Rates of cyberbullying in Australia, and the reasons why…

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Just a quick cross-cultural thought – this article discusses how approximately 10% of 9th and 10th graders in Australia have been cyberbullied…and the article compares that figure to the 50% or so (????) of American students who have been cyberbullied.  The lead researcher and professor stated that their country is about five or so years behind on issues like this…and that this problem will grow in Australia with the increased adoption of high-speed Internet connections in homes.

I personally am not sure that higher broadband speeds available at home are going to markedly enhance the rate of online victimization.  I’ve researched intellectual property theft and found a strong correlation of piracy with faster lines allowing higher throughput, but I feel that there are fundamental behavioral, cultural, and societal issues that facilitate higher rates of cyberbullying in certain countries.  For example, certain countries in the Far East (e.g., Japan, South Korea) have ridiculously fast broadband (40mbps+) to the home, but cyberbullying is not a severe problem at all because demonstrations of interpersonal aggression and violence online are shunned, shameful, and disdained.  Justin and I plan to conduct comparative cross-cultural research on cyberbullying in the near future to further flesh out the relevant issues.  For now, I’d be really interested to hear the insight of others on this matter.

4 Comments

  1. i really apreciate all the things that you are doing to prevent cyber bullying. i didnt even know how much kids are affected by this untill it was suggested as a speech for my academic decathalon (acadec) class. i am now doing a speech and greatly informed i might add thanks to you guys. keep it up and thank you for speeking for the people that cant speek for themselves. 🙂

  2. this is preety cool we are doin a assigment on cyberbullying and its really boaring but this is you awesome because some sites dont even no how much it affects pople

  3. If you are still interested, latest studies have shown Australia amongst the highest in cyberbullying rates in the world. Looks like the country has caught up.

  4. I’ve been online since 1997 (US) and until just recently, I had not met a cyberbully over the age of 30. I am now harassed by one from Tasmania. She’s a 65-ish year old retired school teacher. (Google “Pesky Vrmt”) I have emailed several authorities in her area to report that she MUST be mentally/emotionally impaired and needs to, at LEAST, be checked on (Welfare Check in the US). This has been going on for a YEAR. Three New Zealand news reports, and two suicide victims later…it continues.

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