When Does Free Speech Become Cyberbullying?
There was an article published in the New York Times last week which discussed the case of Katherine Evans. Katherine was displeased with her high school English teacher and posted about this displeasure on Facebook: “To those select students who have had the displeasure of having Ms. Sarah Phelps, or simply knowing her and her […]
Digital “Sexploitation:” An Extreme Example of Cyberbullying
This story out of New Berlin, WI, reports about very extreme case of cyberbullying. It is reported that an 18-year-old male student posed as a female student on Facebook and tricked other male students into sending him nude pictures or videos of themselves. There were at least 31 male students who apparently did so, and […]
Sex Offenders and Social Networking Sites: Show me the Research!
As anticipated, the Final Report released yesterday by Berkman Center’s Internet Safety Technical Task Force summarizing the state of knowledge concerning child safety online has come under fire by some state Attorneys General and others with an interest in advancing public fear about the risks inherent in online social networking. In my view, much of […]
Is Cyberbullying Really That Bad?
We recently received this email and I thought I would respond to it here so that others too can add their thoughts: Dear CyberBullying.us ~ I recently discovered your website as I was wandering the internet. I read some of the stories on your site and I would just love it if you could publish […]
Online social networking: Are the potential benefits worth the possible risks?
I was giving presentations at a school in Pennsylvania (last week) and got to the point in my presentation with parents and staff in the district about the risks and benefits associated with online social networking. When talking about the issues, I try to be reasonably impartial – simply presenting the facts as I see […]
Cell Phones and ChaCha
In the last several months, we have received more calls and emails from school administrators about issue related to cell phones than probably anything else. The concerns about cell phones are varied. For example, students are texting on them all hours of the school day, cell phones can be used to take pictures or video […]
Defining Cyberbullying
There has been renewed discussion recently about what behaviors actually constitute cyberbullying. This is an issue that we have commented about on this blog before and discuss in detail in our book (see especially pages 5 and 49). One of our favorite Internet safety newsletters, Net Family News, recently reported on an article published last […]
Offline Consequences of Online Victimization: School Violence and Delinquency
As increasing numbers of youth embrace computer-mediated communication to meet academic and social needs, interpersonal violence directly and indirectly related to the Internet is occurring more often. Cyberbullying in particular has shot to the forefront of agendas in schools and communities due to the emotional, psychological, and even physical harm to which victims can be […]
Cyberbullying and Strain
One of the more popular criminological theories floating around these days suggests that individuals engage in deviance as a response to experiencing stressful life events or strain. For example, youth who are abused at home or who break up with a serious significant other, or who move to a new town, are more at risk […]
The Cyberbully Next Door
I was recently talking to a colleague (who is an economist at my University) and he told me of an experience that recently happened with his daughter. She was at a get-together at a hotel in our city where alcohol was being served. Somehow the police found out about the party and busted all of […]
