(Editor’s note: This is the second article in an occasional series addressing the topic of school bullying)
Face-to-face bullying in school is hard enough. But the emergence of cyberbullying — bullying that takes place through electronic technology — brings new challenges for parents and teachers.
And it’s not a small threat.
The 2015 Pennsylvania Youth Survey indicates that 29.2 percent of eighth graders in McKean County reported they were bullied through texting or social media in 2015.
Lee Sizemore, administrator for the McKean County Department of Human Services, made note of the high occurrence of cyberbullying reported in McKean County versus the state as a whole.
The survey was conducted by Pennsylvania agencies including the Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and the Department of Education.
The survey found that 24 percent of McKean County students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12 grades together reported they experienced this type of bullying in 2015 — up from 17.3 percent in 2013. This is also much higher than a statewide average of 16.3 percent in 2015.
In addition, 21.3 percent of total sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th in McKean County had inappropriate sexual contact through the internet in 2015. and 20.3 percent of total Pennsylvania students.
But numbers mean little when it comes to helping the individual students who are facing the problems. School officials talked to The Era about the world of cyberbullying — and the new challenges the phenomenon brings.
Bradford Area School District Superintendent Katharine Pude said the emergence of cyberbullying makes it progressively more difficult for parents and teachers to keep teens safe from peers who try to hurt them.
“Before our students were digitally connected online, if children were bullied they told a parent or another trusted adult. Together, the child and the adult worked together to deal with the bullying behaviors.
“Schools were able to deal with bullying issues as they occurred within their walls. School personnel worked with parents who were supportive of their efforts to keep children safe, physically and emotionally. In the safety of their own home, families talked about how to respond to a bully. They discussed what words to use and what actions to take to address conflict. In the safety of their home, children were able to escape bullying behaviors. In essence, home was a bully-free zone.”
That is no longer the case, said Pude. “Text messaging, instant messaging, and social media sites make it possible for a cyberbully to harass, threaten or ridicule a victim 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
In fact, “Most cyberbullying takes place after school hours and on weekends,” said David Emerson, a guidance counselor at Floyd C. Fretz Middle School. “This makes it particularly difficult for schools to handle, which then raises questions about should the school be responsible for student conduct on nights and weekends.”
According to Pude, “The inescapability of cyberbullying limits the opportunities students have to find relief. Often the fallout of cyberbullying is carried into the school setting and creates issues. Subsequently, the parents of student victims expect school personnel to respond immediately to reports of cyberbullying.”
Picking on someone at school means other students in the room can watch; in contrast, posting something to social media means it’s public to every student, parent and teacher.
“Students post hurtful remarks or rumors on social media sites for the world to see,” said Pude. “Moments later, everyone who is friends with the cyberbully or the victim (in the social network of “friends”) has the potential to see the posts and to add their own comments. These comments often perpetuate more bullying behaviors.
“The technology of today has made bullying easier than ever,” said Emerson.
Not only is bullying easier, but it’s easier to be mean, he indicated. “In most cases of cyberbullying things are said that would never be said face to face. Many students are emboldened and empowered in negative ways behind a keyboard or phone. Middle school students in particular still often don’t understand cyberspace and how their text messages and comments don’t really ‘disappear’ once they send them.”
It’s easier to be deceptive, too, according to Pude.
“Cyberbullying is complicated,” she said. “Often the circumstances surrounding a cyberbullying attack are not what they always seem. Perpetrators of cyberbullying have the ability to remain anonymous.
“Many parents may not realize that a cyberbully is able to set-up up a fake account or screen name in order to hide his or her real identity. Social media accounts can be easily created or altered to appear as though they belong to one individual when, in reality, it is someone else sending the hurtful messages.”
Emerson explained, “Some students have also become quite sophisticated by learning ways to set up multiple social media accounts, using nicknames, and other methods to send messages that appear to be from other students, thus shielding themselves.”
There are steps parents can take to lessen teens’ involvement in cyberbullying, according to Emerson.
“My general advice to parents is to monitor your child’s phone and social media accounts and limit their daily time devoted to social media,” he said. “This doesn’t mean that you have to check every day, but periodic surprise inspections can keep them honest.”
And while social interactions have changed greatly in just a few short years, Emerson said parents can benefit from following the approach of their own parents.
“In regards to social media don’t rush your children into this,” he said. “Just as in the olden days when parents wanted to know where a child was going, and with whom, when they would return, and would there be adults present.
“Parents of today need to know with whom their children are talking, texting, Facebooking, Snapchatting, Instagramming, gaming, and any other social media interactions.”
