Social discourses about cybersafety -the ways we teach people about protecting themselves from and reporting risks in new media- reveal a heightened focus on the part of those who work with girls regarding their risk in cyberspace. This thesis investigates the concern as part of a reoccurring moral panic towards girlhood, drawing from critical feminist, girlhood and child and youth care theories to inquire into how girlhood is being discursively produced through cybersafety education. Study findings from a small sample of Canadian cybersafety materials suggest the phenomenon of cybersafety is dominated by fears of girls’ exploitation online by strangers, peers, the media, and even themselves. Themes of girlhood invisibility, shaming, blaming and sexualization are identified as prominent in the curricula. Universal, essentialized notions of girlhood and sexual double standards are promoted, simultaneously constructing girls as victims incapable of managing their own risk while also holding girls legally and morally responsible for their experiences with cyberviolence. Discussion considers the influence of neoliberal and surveillance discourses on responsibilizing girls for their choices online, as well as how the focus on girls’ choices negates the systemic nature of cyberviolence and its intersection with issues of homophobia, racism, classism, colonialism and ableism among others. Implications underscore the need for alternative approaches that offer critical pedagogy and tools to challenge gender ideologies in cybersafety work with girls, as well as to consider the needs of girls from marginalized backgrounds. / Graduate / 0453 / 0630 / cbrand@uvic.ca

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka förekomsten av nätmobbning, reaktioner och psykisk hälsa i samband med detta nya fenomen. Metoden som användes var en tvärsnittsstudie med en webbaserad enkät som genomfördes på 18–19-åringar i gymnasiet. Sammanlagt 75 ungdomar deltog i undersökningen. Resultatet visade att det var vanligare att drabbas av nätmobbning än av traditionell mobbning. Offren för nätmobbning rapporterade sämre hälsa än icke drabbade och led av självskadebeteende. Den vanligaste reaktionen i samband med nätmobbning var att bli ledsen och att drabbas av ångest. Nätmobbning var också vanligare på det studieförberedande gymnasieprogrammet. Slutsatsen som kan dras är att nätmobbning är ett utbrett fenomen bland unga vuxna och nätmobbningsoffer mår sämre än icke-drabbade samt att de drabbade led av självmordstankar. Skolan bör skapa tydliga riktlinjer som kontinuerligt kontrolleras och kommuniceras till personal och elever. Det behövs mer forskning på detta område för att undersöka orsakerna och beteende både hos offer och förövare för att kunna skapa åtgärder för att förebygga och hantera fall av nätmobbning. / The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of cyberbullying, reactions and mental health associated with this new phenomenon. The method used was a cross sectional study with a web-based survey which was conducted on 18-19 year olds in high school. A total of 75 young adults completed the survey. The result showed that it was more likely to suffer from cyberbullying than traditional bullying. The victims of cyberbullying reported poorer health than non-affected and suffered from self-injuries, the most common reaction associated with cyberbullying was to feel sad and suffer from anxiety. Cyberbullying was more common at the college preparatory high school program. The conclusion that can be drawn is that cyberbullying is a widespread phenomenon among young adults and cyberbullying victims feel worse than non-affected and victims also suffered from suicidal thoughts. The school should create clear guidelines on how to handle cyberbullying, and these should continuously be monitored and communicated to staff and students. More research in this area is needed to investigate the causes and behavior of both victims and perpetrators to create methods to prevent and manage cases of cyberbullying.

Electronic aggression is a rapidly growing focus of research, but it lacks a unifying theoretical framework that is necessary to advance the field. The lack of a theoretical framework has led to inconsistencies in measurement of electronic aggression, making it difficult to draw conclusions across studies. In general, researchers have assumed that electronic aggression constitutes a new form of aggression, a counterpart to physical, verbal, and relational aggression, due to unique features surrounding the perpetration of electronic aggression. Furthermore, researchers have treated electronic aggression as a categorical variable based on the assumption that “cyberbullies” constitute a distinct group of adolescents. However, these assumptions have not been empirically tested. It is possible that media represents an additional dimension on which aggression can be classified. The purpose of this study was to test competing models of aggression. It was hypothesized that form of aggression (i.e., physical, verbal, and relational) would be more salient in explaining relations among aggressive behaviors than media (in-person or electronic). It was also hypothesized that adolescents who perpetrated aggression would not be distinguished by what media they used to perpetrate aggression. Finally, it was hypothesized that a dimensional model would provide a better explanation of aggression than a categorical one. Participants were 1052 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from three public schools in a medium-sized city in the southeastern United States. All grades were approximately equally represented (352 sixth grade students, 350 seventh grade students, 340 eighth grade students). The racial composition of the sample was 76% Black or African American, 15% multiracial, 6% European American, and 2% American Indian or Alaska Native. Fifteen percent of participants reported that their ethnicity was Hispanic or Latino. Data were collected in the fall, winter, spring, and summer beginning in the winter of 2010. Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, one data point was randomly selected for each participant. Among other measures, participants completed the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale - Revised, a self-report measure that assessed the extent to which they engaged in physical, verbal, relational, and electronic aggression. Interestingly, a confirmatory factor analysis that took both media and form into account provided the best model to explain adolescent aggression. A latent profile analysis revealed two groups of adolescents: a moderately aggressive class and a low aggressive class. As hypothesized, neither group was distinguishable by the media they used to perpetrate aggression. Also as hypothesized, a comparison of the confirmatory factor analysis model and the two-class solution of the latent profile analysis indicated that a dimensional model provided the best fit. This study supports a theoretical framework of aggression in which aggression is classified both by form and media.

The goal of this thesis is to map children users' theoretical knowledge of risks of the Internet. It deals with problems of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, sexting and cybergrooming in the youngest city of the Czech Republic, in Milovice. It describes the dangerous behaviour patterns that the children at the age of 11-15 years (i.e. the second stage of elementary schools) in that city are confronted with and that they tend to follow-up. The research shows how they perceive risks of the Internet and how much they trust strange people online. It finds out whether the children make relations with strangers and whether they meet them in real world, where they would look for help if needed and whether they are familiar with some projects focused on the Internet safety. The definition of risk factors of the new media and specification of child users are crucial for the thesis. The thesis also briefly describes Czech legislation connected with risks of cyberspace and outlines the profiles of the aggressors and their victims. It shows possible after-effects of cyber criminality on the real examples. It introduces various tools, projects and children and parents approaches that help them with the prevention and minimization of risks. The empiric part of the thesis is solved by quantitative method. In...

Introduction: This thesis investigates the experiences of young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and who are questioning their sexuality (LGBTQ) on the Internet. Specifically, the project explores how LGBTQ young people use the Internet, how they communicate online, the impact that the Internet has on their life and how they stay safe online. Despite the Internet being an ever-growing aspect of people’s lives and the potential opportunities that it presents for marginalised groups such as LGBTQ young people, there have been a relatively small number of qualitative studies in the area. Methodology: As there has been limited research regarding LGBTQ young people’s use of the Internet, a systematic review of qualitative studies exploring the experiences and views of cyberbullying by children and adolescents in the general population was conducted using Framework Synthesis. Subsequently, an empirical study was completed which involved conducting a secondary analysis, using Framework Analysis methodology, of data collected from focus groups with LGBTQ young people regarding their Internet use. In total, five focus groups were held with forty-one LGBTQ young people recruited across four European countries. Results: A total of eighteen studies were included in the qualitative synthesis exploring children and adolescents’ cyberbullying experiences. Although there was some variation in the quality of the studies, there was clear support for four main themes: Online vs. Traditional Bullying Environment, Risk Factors, Victim’s Experience and Preventative Measures. These themes highlighted both the potential causative factors of cyberbullying as well as how the victim experiences different aspects of the incident such as their initial understanding of the event to the long-term impact of cyberbullying. A number of preventative measures were also suggested, including the need for adults to increase their understanding of technology and cyberbullying in order to enable them to be a viable source of help. Within the empirical study, four main themes emerged from the data: Digital World as Part of Daily Life, In Control of Their Online World, Seeking Connection and Navigating Risk. The latter three main themes also consisted of a number of subthemes. The results indicate that participants have embraced the Internet into their everyday lives and that the LGBTQ population reaps specific benefits as the Internet allows them to overcome or compensate for barriers faced within their offline lives. Participants also reported the need to navigate many risks online, however interestingly they appeared confident in doing so and discussed the variety of ways in which they achieve this. Discussion: The results of the qualitative synthesis provided tentative support for two different theoretical models of cyberbullying, indicating that both an individual process model and an ecological system model are mutually useful ways of understanding this phenomenon. Clinical implications spanned both individual and systemic measures that could be taken to reduce the likelihood of cyberbullying occurring. However, it is also clear that further research, in particular qualitative research, is required to continue to develop our understanding of this topic as a whole. The findings from the empirical project suggest that LGBTQ young people must balance the opportunities provided by the Internet whilst also managing the risks that it poses. The importance of retaining the empowerment for young people on the Internet was clear, especially for young LGBTQ people who may use the Internet as an alternative way of meeting their needs and engaging in developmental tasks such as sexual identity development. However, there is also a need to ensure that these young people are safe online and therefore interventions such as parental education and the development of age appropriate resources are required to promote both empowerment and safety for this population.

Youth bullying is a common form of youth violence; and recently, this behavior has diverged into two forms: traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Bullying has typically occurred within the context of school; however, with the aid of electronic devices and the Internet, youth are now able to bully beyond the schoolyard. Cyberbullying is a transmutation of traditional bullying earmarked by anonymity, a lack of guardianship, and physical distance. Using data from the 2009-2010 Health Behaviors of School-aged Children survey, this study examines the relationship between traditional bullying perpetration and cyberbullying perpetration. Logistic regression analyses suggest a relationship exist between the two forms of bullying and the link appears to be verbal and relational aggression. Additionally, gender has been shown to play a role in bullying perpetration with males engaging in all types of bullying behavior at a higher frequency than females.

Recent research has shown an increase in cyber bullying acts against middle and high school students. The National Center of Education Statistics (2010) reported that cyberbullying incidents increased 73% between the years of 2007 and 2009. In 2011, 75% of cyberbullying victims were adolescents (National Center of Education Statistics, 2013). Using data collected from the Pew Research and American Life Project, the study examined the prevalence of cyber bullying acts against African American female adolescents compared to Caucasian male and female adolescents and African American male adolescents. Additionally, the study reported the cyber bullying incident that occurred most frequently as either directly using texting or indirectly using social media websites. Past research studies have shown a prevalence of cyber bullying acts against Caucasian females. The participants in this study were 737 adolescents 12-17 years old. The results suggested that a prevalence of cyber bullying acts against African American female students occurred at a significantly lower rate than Caucasian female and male students but a significantly higher rate than African American male students and Hispanic male and female students. Additionally, indirect cyberbullying incidents occurred significantly more frequently than direct cyberbullying incidents.

Public awareness of the negative impact of bullying on adolescents has increased due to social networking and news media reports. Prior research on bullying has focused on the prevalence of bullying in public schools, yet few studies have explored teacher intent, constructive or punitive, and teacher involvement in incidents of bullying. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teacher intent and teacher involvement in responding to student bullying. The conceptual framework was based on Bandura's social learning theory and Marshall et al.'s conceptual model of teacher intent and involvement. The central research question asked how teacher intent and involvement are impacted by state, district and school antibullying policies. This multiple case study included two middle schools, one in the Pacific region and one in the Midwest region of the United States. Participants in each case included 3 Grade 7 and 3 Grade 8 teachers. Data were collected from multiple sources, including teacher interviews, reflective journals, and state, district, and school documents. Single case analysis involved open and axial coding and category construction. Cross-case analysis involved the constant comparative method to determine emerging themes and discrepancies. Key findings indicated that state and district policies and procedures positively impact teacher intent and involvement. Teacher participants reported their intent to follow school procedures by responding to bullying incidents with constructive interventions to resolve conflicts. Teacher involvement was constructive and direct. This study contributes to positive social change by providing educators and policymakers with a deeper understanding of how to promote learning environments free from intimidation and violence.

Over time and with both the increasing ubiquitousness of the Internet and children's technological knowledge at young ages, cyberbullying has grown more widespread and acts of bullying have become more intense. However, little is known about the effectiveness of different antibullying programs for decreasing cyberbullying behaviors. This study addressed that gap in the literature by exploring one elementary school's use of the Bully Busters program for combating cyberbullying. The decision-making model was used as the conceptual framework for this qualitative interview study. Participants were 3 principals from 3 schools using the program. Data were gathered from the participants via interviews and classroom observations. NVivo software was used to organize the data analysis processes through open coding to identify themes and patterns. Principals indicated the Bully Busters program was effective for preventing bullying and believed it would be effective for combating cyberbullying; they also demonstrated clear plans for implementing the program more widely to combat cyberbullying. As noted during observations, the principals effectively implemented the Bully Busters program. Results of this study may contribute to positive social change by providing school principals with insight into how the Bully Busters program may be implemented to deter cyberbullying in their schools. Decreased rates of cyberbullying in schools may result in improved school experiences for all children.

<p>Purpose/Aim: To examine whether or not there is such a thing as bloggbullying, and if so, how this manifests itself among female bloggers.</p><p>Material/Method: To analyze the material, which consists of comments made on a total of 75 posts made on three different blogs, a quantitative method as well as a qualitative critical discourse analysis was used.</p><p>Main result: Several similarities between Anatol Pikas definition of bullying and the results were found, and the conclusion is that there is such a thing as bloggbullying.</p>