Bill Belsey, President, Bullying.org Canada
Young Canadians are more connected than ever
What can be done about cyberbullying?
If you are a victim of cyberbullying
Tips for youth who are cyberbullied
Tips for parents of youth who are cyberbullied
Tips for schools where students are cyberbullied
Resources
Introduction
My life changed on April 20, 1999.
The day began like any other day, but along the way an emotional tsunami flooded my consciousness as news emerged of a school shooting at Columbine High School, in Middleton, Colorado.
Eight days later, a copycat shooting took place at a high school in rural Alberta. Clearly, school violence was no longer a big-city problem or an American problem; it was everyone's problem, and as a Canadian parent and educator, I felt that it was also my problem.
It became apparent soon afterwards that the young people who committed these heinous acts were relentlessly bullied and teased throughout their young lives. In response to these deeply disturbing tragedies, I created www.bullying.org.
The website has the following three goals:
Goal 1: Help people—especially young people—learn that they are not alone in dealing with bullying in their lives.
Goal 2: Help young people realize that being bullied is not their fault.
Goal 3: Help young people do something positive about bullying.
Www.bullying.org allows people to connect in a safe, moderated, online community where they can share their stories, poetry, drawings, music, animations and videos. A team of volunteer reviewers moderates submissions and replies. Visitors to the website can also use the world's largest online database of helpful resources to find information about bullying.
The national nonprofit educational organization Bullying.org Canada was created shortly after to support and expand a national vision. Www.bullying.org is listed as one of the top bullying referenced websites in the world by www.google.com and other Internet search engines. The website received the ChildNet International Award, which goes to projects that make the Internet a better place for youth, and it was a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Award, which has been called the Nobel Prize of the IT (information technology) world.
Shortly after launching www.bullying.org, I realized that something new was being experienced and reported by young people around the world. In response, I created www.cyberbullying.ca, the world's first website specifically dedicated to bullying on the Internet. http://www.cyberbullying.cahas often been cited as the first website to use the term cyberbullying and to define cyberbullying behaviour.
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Young Canadians are more connected than ever
- Internet access is almost universal—research conducted from 2003–05 found that 94 per cent of young Canadians say they go online from home (compared with 79 per cent in 2001). Sixty-one per cent report having high-speed access.*
- Many students report that they have their own Internet connection. In total, 37 per cent have their own Internet-connected computer. Twenty per cent of Grade 4 students access the Internet through their own personal computer. That number climbs to 51 per cent by Grade 11.*
- Points of access include more than computers. Twenty-three per cent of students report having their own cellphone, 44 per cent of which have Internet capability. Fifty-six per cent of students' cellphones have text messaging and 17 per cent have cameras.*
- Twenty-two percent of students have their own webcam. In Grade 11, that number climbs to 31 per cent. *
A 2002 British survey found that one in four youth (aged 11 to 19) had been threatened on their computers or cellphones, including death threats.
—NCH, National Children's Home, UK
*Young Canadians in a Wired World—Phase II (2003–05)
—Conducted by ERIN Research for the Media Awareness Network and funded by the government of Canada.
Adults see the Internet as a resource or place to serve their needs. Young people, on the other hand, don't think of the Internet as separate from their lives, and, increasingly, it is a normal and natural part of their world. For the Always On Generation (AOG), remaining connected to one's peer group means being online often. Increasingly, it means being online synchronously in real time or at the very same time as one's peers.
Most connections are made through instant messaging (IM). IM is facilitated through programs such as ICQ, AOL, MSN or Yahoo! Messenger systems. IM, as its name implies, is instantaneous—e-mail is considered too slow by many young people today.
Adults tend to relate to the use of various Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in functional ways. For example, adults do their work, send their e-mails and then are done for the most part. However, for the Always On Generation, ICTs have become a digital umbilical cord to their peer group. Among the AOG, responses are not only expected, they are expected promptly—to not respond immediately is considered a social faux pas.
If you are thinking that IM is a fad that will eventually go away, think again. IM is growing 30 per cent faster than e-mail did at its inception. It used to be that school and home were where children and youth went online, and adults had some control over when and where their children went online, but no more. Young people can now chat via IM, send text and multimedia messages with still and video images, surf the Internet and chat online, all from the palm of their hand from almost anywhere, because today's mobile phones are powerful and portable multimedia computers. The cellphone has become the new teen badge of social status. It can be personalized with coloured faceplates, personalized ring tones, still and video cameras and more.
The ubiquitous nature of Internet connectivity poses real problems for young people and adults who care about children and youth. Unfortunately, one of the very real threats to youth in this fluid and mobile communications environment is cyberbullying.
What Is Cyberbullying?
"Cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others." — Bill Belsey
What form does cyberbullying take?
Cyberbullying can occur through e-mail, cellphone text (SMS) and multimedia messages (MMS), instant messaging (IM), defamatory weblogs (blogs), personal websites and online personal polling sites.
How is cyberbullying similar to and different from other forms of bullying?
Cyberbullying, like other forms of bullying, is about human relationships, power and control. Those who bully others are trying to establish power and control over others whom they perceive to be weaker. Those who bully want to make victims feel that there is something wrong with them, but victims should know that there is nothing wrong with them. It is the bullies who have the real problems.
Cyberbullying differs from other forms of bullying. While traditional forms of bullying can sometimes be detected by adults, cyberbullying is removed from the adult sphere because youth can communicate without adult knowledge or supervision.
Cyberbullying is also different in that it is a cowardly form of bullying—cyberbullies can hide easily behind the anonymity that the Internet provides.
Cyberbullies can communicate their hurtful messages to a wide audience with remarkable speed.
Cyberbullying does not provide any tangible feedback about the consequences of using information technologies to cyberbully others. Cyberbullies do not have to take responsibility for their actions. Because it is usually difficult to identify cyberbullies, they do not fear being punished for their actions.
Cyberbullying is often outside the legal reach of schools and school boards, because it often happens outside school and on home computers or cellphones.
As with most victims of bullying, those who are cyberbullied often refrain from telling others because they fear that the bullying may become worse. Victims of cyberbullying are often afraid to report to adults, because they also fear that adults will overreact and take away their cellphones, computers and/or Internet access, an action that is unthinkable as far as the AOG is concerned, because not being online means not socializing or communicating with their peers. Inclusion is paramount in the lives of most children and youth.
In most cases, cyberbullies know their victims, but the victims may not know their cyberbullies; the aggressors may or may not bully their victims through physical, verbal, emotional or psychological means that are easily identified.
With the advent of mobile, wireless Internet access, communications have become more common. As a result, cyberbullying can happen any time and any place—for many children, home is no longer a refuge from negative peer pressure.
It is a difficult and time-consuming challenge to deal with the effects of cyberbullying after it has occurred. It can take time and effort to get Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile telecommunications service providers (phone companies that sell cellphones and pagers) to deal with complaints about cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying and the law
Some forms of cyberbullying are considered criminal acts. Under Canada's Criminal Code, it is a crime to communicate repeatedly with someone if your communication causes them to fear for their own safety or the safety of others.
It is also a crime to publish a "defamatory libel"—writing something that is designed to insult a person or likely to hurt a person's reputation by exposing him or her to hatred, contempt or ridicule.
A cyberbully may also be violating Canada's Human Rights Act if he or she spreads hate or discrimination based on another person's race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family
status or disability.
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Awareness and education are keys to the prevention of cyberbullying. Visit www.cyberbullying.ca and learn what you can do about cyberbullying.
Advice for Students
The following tips will help to curb cyberbullying.
Never divulge personal information—Personal information includes your name, names of friends and/or family, their addresses, phone numbers, school names (or team names if students play sports). Personal information also includes photographs of individuals and their e-mail addresses. You should ask your parents' permission before sharing information on a website with a chat buddy or when registering a computer product online (games and software). Passwords are secret. Never tell anyone your password (except your teacher, parents or guardians).
Don't believe everything you read—Just because someone online tells you that he is 15 years old doesn't mean it is true. Online, even adults can't tell when a male is pretending to be female or a 50-year-old is pretending to be a 15-year-old.
Use Netiquette (Internet etiquette)—Be polite to others online just as you would offline. If someone treats you rudely or meanly, do not respond. Online bullies are just like offline ones—they want others to answer (don't give them the satisfaction). DON'T WRITE IN CAPITALS! This is considered yelling on the Internet and is rude. It may encourage the recipient to flame you by sending repeated, aggressive messages.
Never send a message when angry—Wait until you have calmed down and had time to think before sending a message. Do your best to ensure that your messages are calmly and factually written. You will usually regret sending a flame to someone else. Once you've sent a negative message, it is difficult to undo the damage.
Never open a message from someone you don't know—If in doubt about the origins and contents of a message, consult with your teachers, parents, guardians or other adults before opening the message.
Use your judgment—If it doesn't look or feel right, then it probably isn't. You need to trust your instincts. While surfing the Internet, if you encounter something you don't like, makes you feel uncomfortable or scares you, then you should turn off the computer and consult an adult. Internet filters can only go so far. (After working with students, teachers and technology for many years, I believe that the only truly effective filter is awareness. For every filter that schools and school boards put in place, there are as many ways to get around them. In fact, many websites have been created to show people how to get around filters.)
Get offline—On occasion, turn off, disconnect and unplug. Give yourself a break and spend time with your siblings and parents. Rather than virtual reality, why not try more actual reality?
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If You Are the Victim of Cyberbullying
Do not keep it to yourself! You're not alone—Tell an adult you know and trust. It is difficult to solve such problems on your own.
Inform your service provider—Contact your Internet, instant messaging or mobile phone service provider. For example, to contact MSN for instant messaging, visit http://ca.support.sympatico.msn.com/contactus.aspx?productkey=messenger
Inform your local police—Contact the police, as it is illegal to use telecommunications systems to spread hatred.
Do not reply to cyberbullies—Even though you may want to, this is exactly what cyberbullies want. They want to know that they've got you worried and upset. They are trying to mess with your mind and frighten you. Don't give them that pleasure.
Do not erase or delete messages from cyberbullies—You don't have to read the message, but keep it as evidence. Unfortunately, you may get similar messages again, perhaps from other accounts. The police, your Internet provider and telephone company can use these messages to help you. You might notice certain words or phrases that are also used by people you know. These messages may reveal certain clues as to who is doing this, but don't try to solve this on your own. Tell an adult you know and trust. Get help!
What kind of information should be saved?
When reporting cyberbullying, it is important to save as much information as you can. The more you save, the easier it will be to track down the people who are bullying you.
Save the following from e-mail:
- E-mail address
- Date and time received
- Copies of any relevant e-mails with full e-mail headers
Save the following from groups or communities:
- URL of offending MSN group site
- Nickname of offending person
- E-mail address of offending person
- Date you saw it happen
Save the following from profiles you see on the web:
- URL of profile
- Nickname of offending person
- E-mail address of offending person
- Date you viewed this profile
Save the following from chatrooms:
- Date and time of chat
- Name and URL of chatroom you were in
- Nickname of offending person
- E-mail address of offending person
- Screenshot of chatroom
Report cyberbullying e-mail
If you receive e-mail from cyberbullies, you can report it to your service provider with the full headers displayed. The full header shows every stage of an e-mail's journey. Forwarding an e-mail with the full header displayed will let the support team track down where it came from.
How to display full headers in an e-mail
MSN Hotmail
- Sign in to MSN Hotmail
- Click Options (right-hand side, next to help)
- Click Mail on the left-hand column
- Click Mail Display Settings
- Under Message Headers, select Full
MSN Premium or MSN Plus
- Right click on the mail
- On your keyboard, press the Alt and the Return keys
- Click Message Source. The message opens in a new window with all the header information visible
- Copy all the text and paste it into a new message
Outlook Express or Outlook
- Right click on the unopened mail, and click Options
- Under Internet headers, copy the full content of the header
- Open the e-mail in question and forward a complete copy of the message, inserting the full message header that you copied
Yahoo
- Open the Yahoo account
- Click on Options
- Select Mail Viewing Preferences
- By default, these will be set to briefs
- To view the full headers, click All
What if someone has stolen your account?
If somebody has stolen or hacked your account and changed all the login details, you will need to get in touch with a support team to get it back. It is not possible to have your password reset if you supply incorrect information.
Getting your account back on MSN
1) Try to reset your password. You will need to know the answer to your secret question.
- Go to the Passport member centre
- Click I forgot my password
- Sign in and answer the secret question
2) If you think the answer to your secret question has been changed with your password
- Go to the Passport member centre
- Answer the profile questions
- In the Error Message box, type ACCOUNT STOLEN
- In the Additional Comments box, provide
- -the time you last signed in successfully
- -a list of all your previous passwords
How do I report chatroom cyberbullying?
- You don't have to put up with abuse in chatrooms, and the companies that run chatrooms don't want abusive people using their services.
- Highlight the chatter's name
- Use the ignore button to stop all conversations with that person
- Take a screenshot of the abuse
- Note the time, date and chatroom name
- Report to the chatroom moderator and service operator
- Speak to a parent or a teacher
Students should know that it isn't their fault that there are strange people in the world.
Students should not be ashamed to tell somebody about disturbing, threatening, weird or frightening behaviour encountered in chat rooms.
People aren't anonymous online, and with the right information saved, they can be traced by the police.
Protect yourself
Never arrange to meet someone you have met online unless your parents go with you. If you are meeting someone that you met online, make sure it is in a public place.
You may need to delete your current e-mail accounts, cellphone/pager accounts and set up new ones. If you experience persistent cyberbullying problems, it is recommended that you do this as soon as possible, unless you are working with the police and their telecommunications provider to keep the account(s) active to catch the cyberbully. Bullying.org Canada is addressing these issues with various Internet service providers and mobile service providers.
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Tips for youth who are cyberbullied
1. Do not respond to or become engaged in the abuse.
2. Talk to someone about being bullied.
3. Keep records—print messages to help identify the bully or bullies.
4. If necessary, get a new cellphone and/or account number and give it out one person at a time. Keep a diary to record any abuse—your tormenter may be closer than you think.
5. Take a break from online activities and unplug.
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Tips for parents of youth who are cyberbullied
1. Parents and guardians are encouraged to create an Internet Acceptable Use Policy and sign an agreement with their children about Internet use. Bullying.org Canada has examples of such contracts. It should be made clear that Internet access is not a right; it is a privilege to be earned and honoured.
2. Keep the computer in an open, common area.
3. Inform your Internet service provider or cellphone service provider of abuses.
4. Do not erase messages—keep them for evidence.
5. Install filter software. Help is available from McAfee Parental Controls filter for both IM and chatrooms.
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Tips for schools where students are cyberbullied
1. Amend antibullying policies to include text-messaging, cellphone use and online bullying. Schools and school boards should update their computer and Internet Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) to include harassment by mobile and wireless Internet information technologies. Consequences for violating the AUP should be clearly spelled out. The AUP should be signed by the student and parents and/or guardian. The AUP should prohibit using ICTs for cyberbullying. Schools and school boards should work with parent/school councils to spread the message that members of the school community are responsible for their online behaviour and actions at home and work.
2. Make a commitment to educate teachers, students and parents about cyberbullying.
3. Make sure parents know who to contact at the school if there is a problem.
4. Never allow a known incident of bullying to pass unchallenged—deal with it.
5. Walk the talk of positive, respectful online communication and behaviour in your school. Teachers and students need to become engaged in collaborative, international projects where there is a well-established, mutually respectful online community with a solid track record in education. One outstanding example of this is iEARN, the International Education and Resource Network (www.iearrn.org).
iEARN has more than one million K–12 student and teacher members in more than 110 countries around the world, all of whom share iEARN's vision of "Connecting youth and making a difference!" Schools participate in student- and teacher-created projects that not only relate to curriculum, they also serve iEARN's vision of helping to make the world a better place. Schools in Canada can visit www.iearn-canada.org for more information. Educators can join by registering online at http://amity.iearn.org/peopleadd.lasso. There is no fee for Canadian educators to join.
6. Schools and school boards should contact Bullying.org Canada about information sessions for students, staff and parents. Teachers, students and parents should be encouraged to read the information on the www.cyberbullying.ca website.
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Resources
Www.bullying.org is a multiple award-winning website created to help people address the issues of bullying within a safe, positive and moderated international community.
Www.cyberbullying.ca is the world's first website specifically dedicated to the emerging issue of cyberbullying.
Bullying.org Canada is the creator and facilitator of Canada's National Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week.
Www.bullyingawarenessweek.org is where you will find information about the fifth annual Bullying Awareness Week, to be held November 19–25, 2007.
Www.bullyingcourse.com features a Bullying for Parents course overview.
For more information, or to find out about Bullying.org Canada presenting to your school community, please contact Bill Belsey, president, Bullying.org Canada. Telephone: (403) 932-1748; e-mail: help@bullying.org.
