Lawmakers in at least five states aim to stiffen or enact cyberbullying laws as national concern grows over electronic harassment and its deadly consequences.
The Report of the Nova Scotia Task Force on Bullying and Cyberbullying
Nearly 1 million youth between the ages of 12 and 18 have been cyberbullied (Robers, Zhang, & Truman, 2010). This anthology, co-edited by two widely published and recognized experts in online safety, is an ambitious compendium of the latest research and resources related to cyberbullying.
Early chapters describe how the generational technology gap between many adults and youth magnify the challenge in educating adults about what cyberbullying is and how it can be addressed. In Chapter 1, Anne Collier depicts a modern, “living Internet” where young people (and others) contribute and consume both informational and behavioral content in a social space that youth do not perceive as being separate from their “real life” off-line. The dynamic nature of the web is one of the reasons why Collier recommends “…creating cultures of self-regulation [emphasis in original] which include critical thinking…and respect for others at home and school (p.3)” as a strategy to protect youth from cyberbullying and other online risks.
From her compelling opening quotation of a teen’s suicide note to her final words about opportunity for commitment to the well-being of children, author Shaheen Shariff takes the reader on a remarkable journey through the complex landscape of emerging technologies and the phenomenon of cyber-bullying.
Background/Context: Bullying within schools continues despite thoughtful and well-researched anti-bullying strategies deployed against it. The bulk of research targeted toward understanding and eradicating bullying within schools is of an empirical nature. In other words, through data collection, questionnaires, interviews, ethnography, observation, case studies, etc., researchers have sought to carefully assess bully/victim characteristics as well as the social processes that fuel bullying within schools.
Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This project considers educational transformation (i.e., how we might transform those we educate) through a variety of pertinent, yet diverse, lenses. Specifically this paper is situated in the conviction that in order to stop bullying we must affect desire. We ask, then, how philosophical theories of transformation, specifically those regarding changes in dispositions, might contribute to our understanding of school bullying and current strategies aimed at reducing it. In short, the driving question underlying this project simply asks: how can we help the bully to no longer desire to bully?
Gary R. Plaford’s Bullying and the Brain: Using Cognitive and Emotional Intelligence to Help Kids Cope is aimed at addressing such questions. “Numerous books have been written about bullying, but most of them deal only with external intervention—those that suggest teaching students more appropriate social skills,” asserts the back cover of Plaford’s book. This summary goes on to list important expansions that this work targets including: “internal interventions”; strategies for “monitoring and controlling bullying behaviors”; the “latest research on the brain and emotional intelligence”; new insights into managing “emotional triggers”; as well as cultivating “connections and an outward focus” among students (Plaford, 2006, back cover).
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program