Following up from my last blog post, and after talking to a number of individuals working in various school districts, this is what we know: 1) FERPA allows schools who learn the identity of a cyberbully upon investigation of an incident that affects the climate or environment or values of the school to protect that…
I was talking to a school administrator yesterday…and she posed a question that I couldn’t clearly answer because it doesn’t seem there is a clear answer. So I wanted to see if any of our readers had some thoughts about it. If a parent comes to you (you as an educator in the school system)…
I spoke at an Autism conference last week, and presented information on cyberbullying victimization and Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) among youth. I am particularly interested in this population as one of my close friend’s has AS, and has shared with me his experiences being harassed by peers who perceive them as “different.” These youth are especially…
I spoke at an Autism conference last week, and presented information on cyberbullying victimization and ASD youth. I am particularly interested in this population as one of my close friends is on the spectrum, and has shared with me his experiences being harassed by peers who perceive them as “different.” These youth are especially susceptible…
Post this prominently on your office or classroom door to let your students know that they can trust you. You will listen to their concerns about cyberbullying and take them seriously. You will do something about the problem and get it resolved. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2009). Cyberbullying trustee poster. Bullying beyond the…
This Research Summary highlights the specific cyberbullying experiences of teenaged girls through the content analysis of detailed responses received from victims. Burgess-Proctor, A., Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2009). Cyberbullying research summary: Victimization of Adolescent Girls. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/cyberbullying_girls_victimization.pdf Download PDF
This Research Summary specifies how adolescents are negatively affected by cyberbullying by highlighting how online aggression leads to adolescent strain and stress, which then can create developmental and functional concerns. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2009). Cyberbullying research summary: Emotional and Psychological Consequences. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/cyberbullying_emotional_consequences.pdf Download PDF
This is a formal agreement to be signed by both parents and children to help facilitate an open line of communication regarding the appropriate use of cell phones. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2009). Cell Phone Use Contract. Bullying beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved [insert…
This is a formal agreement to be signed by both parents and children to help facilitate an open line of communication regarding the appropriate use of the Internet. Feel free to customize for your own needs. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2009). Internet Use Contract. Bullying beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying.…
In this recent story from the West Coast, a 15-year-old high-schooler named Arielle was suspended for two days after surreptitiously capturing video on her cell phone of her chaotic algebra class. Apparently, the situation was horrible with the teacher unable to control the students, who were participating in paper-ball fights, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and…
In April, Justin briefly blogged about this article from the Washington post entitled My Students. My Cellphone. My Ordeal. I’d like to follow up by saying that more educators are contacting us with questions on what to do in cases where students have cell phones with sexually-explicit pictures of other youth on them. While the…
Thankfully, Facebook is soon going to restructure the way it displays privacy settings to users. Currently, those settings are scattered across multiple pages, and it is a chore for individuals to customize them to their liking. When we talk to elementary, middle, and high-schoolers, we ask about those settings – and have found that very…
This Fact Sheet specifies how individuals who receive malicious emails can view the email header information to discern the Internet Service Provider to contact and alert of the situation. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2009). Cyberbullying fact sheet: Viewing email header information. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/viewing_cyberbullying_email_headers.pdf Download PDF
This Fact Sheet defines and explains the multiple acronyms and shortcuts used by teens during computer-mediated communication such as texting, instant messaging, and chatting. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2014). Cyberbullying Fact Sheet: Common Chat Room and Text Messaging Abbreviations. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/cyberbullying_chat_abbreviations.pdf Download PDF
Cox Communications and the NCMEC recently held a Teen Summit in Washington, and we are pleased to see that the research they conducted revealed the same findings as our own work, as it relates to the use of various technologies by adolescents, experiences with cyberbullying, and the misuse of personal pictures or content. Furthermore, one…
Our colleague Adam Thierer from the Progress & Freedom Foundation has recently published an informative white paper worth reading entitled “Cyberbullying Legislation: Why Education is Preferable to Regulation.” Justin and I keep having to point out in various conversations that strictly punitive strategies fall short in their effort to deter misbehavior, especially among a youthful…
This handout provides commonsense strategies for encouraging and enabling youth to think about important issues when posting content on social networking sites. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2009). Safe and Responsible Social Networking: Strategies for Keeping Yourself Safe Online. Cyberbullying Research Center. Download PDF
Unscramble the words to uncover cyberbullying-related concepts and websites! Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2009). Cyberbullying word scramble: Talking to youth about Internet harassment. Cyberbullying Research Center. Download PDF
Qik – a new software application which can be downloaded onto your phone – allows for real-time web streaming of whatever you’d like to capture. This means that anyone else can see exactly what you see as it is happening. The software is being ported for different platforms and will soon be available for the…
Here’s a recent query I received from an educator who I have worked with in the past. I thought her question and my response would be of interest to others so I am posting both here. Does your school district have a policy regarding cyberbullying or Facebook? How about cyberbullying on Facebook? Question: “The reason…
A teenager from New York has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, four high-school classmates who used the site to harass her, and their parents. Specifically, two boys and two girls created a Facebook group called password-protected “90 Cents Short Of A Dollar,” in order to “hold [her] up to public hatred, ridicule and disgrace.” Content…
One of our good friends and fellow Internet Safety advocates Anne Collier (co-author of MySpace Unraveled) recently did a presentation on Second Life. By that, I don’t mean the topic was Second Life (an online virtual reality world in which people interact with each other via avatars), but she, through her avatar, gave a presentation…
One of the questions we field sometimes involves how private schools differ from public schools in their response to instances of cyberbullying and student misuse of technology. A case from a private Michigan college illustrates the general distinction that we’ve seen. In this situation, a 19-year-old male was placed on six-month probation after being accused…
Growing public awareness of electronic bullying and harassment among adolescents suggests the need to empirically investigate this increasingly common and problematic behavior. Although studies of cyberbullying and online harassment among young people are nascent, preliminary findings suggest that victimization can undermine the freedom of youth to use and explore valuable online resources, and may have…