Cyberbullying by Adolescents: A Preliminary Assessment

Sixteen-year-old Denise is a high school junior in Los Angeles, California. Denise had an argument with her boyfriend and broke up with him. The rejected young man was angry and decided that he would get even. The devious method that he chose was to post Denise's contact numbers, including her e-mail address, cell phone number, and street address on several sex-oriented Web sites and blogs. Denise was hounded for months by instant messages, prank callers, and car horns of insensitive people who drove by her house to see whether or not they could catch a glimpse of her. In this case, the identity of the cyberbully, her former boyfriend, was detected quickly. However, his apprehension did not eliminate the sustained sense of helplessness and embarrassment Denise experienced (Rachlin 2000).

Jealousy is a common motive for cyber abuse. Fourteen-year-old Amy lives in Montgomery, Alabama. She is enrolled in a home school curriculum and plans to earn a high school diploma by age 16 so that she can start college early. Darin, a neighbor who attends public school, is Amy's friend. Darin's girlfriend began sending Amy e-mail messages threatening to cut herself if Amy did not stop talking to Darin. The guilt that someone might do herself bodily harm because of her led Amy to tell Darin about the e-mails. Darin confessed that his girlfriend had cut herself once before. Amy wanted to do the right thing, but did not know who to contact. She told her mother, and the police were called to investigate (Joinson 2003).

Donna attends eighth grade at a parochial school in Montreal, Canada. She and her mother traveled to Toronto for a week to visit her grandmother, who was recuperating from cancer surgery. When Donna returned to school, a cyberbully circulated a rumor alleging that Donna had contracted SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) during her stay in Toronto. Donna's girlfriends were scared and unwilling to be around her or even talk over the phone. Without exception, her classmates moved away from Donna whenever she went near them (Wendland 2003).

Some cases may involve more than one bully and a single victim. Others could involve a gang of bullies that persecute multiple parties. The latter occurs when students respond to online trash polling sites. These Web sites, which are growing in number, invite students to identify individuals by unflattering characteristics, such as the most obese person at their school, the boys mostly likely to be gay, and the girls who have slept with the most boys. The predictable consequences for students subjected to this shameful treatment are depression, hopelessness, and withdrawal (Assuras 2004).

Students are not the only people at school who are bullied. Teachers often are targets too. When students make disrespectful comments to a teacher or challenge the authority of the school to govern their behavior on campus, they usually are sent to the office where an administrator examines the situation and determines a suitable course of disciplinary action. The limitations of this practice in preventing student harassment of faculty members are illustrated by the experience of Joseph, a high school teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. He offered computer classes to juniors and seniors and consistently received high ratings from students for his instruction. He was known for preparing students to obtain a good paying job immediately after graduation. Joseph felt disappointment and shock when told of a Web site on which he was the focus of messages on "What I hate about my teacher, Mr. ..." The Web site contained statements that Joseph recognized as characteristic of a particular student and comments he recalled saying to the student. Joseph related, "I taught this young man how to apply a technological tool for constructive purposes, and he decided to use it against me."