Session Information
SES B 04, Paper Session
Paper Session
Contribution
The rapid developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) have brought a drastic impact on people’s life. Cell phones and especially Internet are used as a tool for socialization, education, entertainment and spending leisure time, but they came with a cost by providing a safer platform for aggressors due to the anonymity of the Internet (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004). Cyber bullying, cyber harassment, cyber stalking, cyber crime, cyber terrorism and several other types of online aggression have already been described by the literature on online behaviors. Among these behaviors, cyber bullying was considered as a milder form of aggression with the aim of psychological agitation of other people (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004) by using electronic forms of contact repeatedly (Smith, et al., 2005).
Risky Internet use has been considered to be an important factor for cyber bullying. Schrock and boyd (2008) suggest that adolescents tend to employ “more complex and interactive Internet use,” which may make them more vulnerable and more likely to be a target of bad-intentioned people. An online survey by Berson, Berson, and Ferron (2002) reached 10,800 adolescents girls (ages of 12-18) and concluded that a significant number of them was engaging in risky activities such as giving away their personal information, sending their pictures to someone they met online, or agreeing to meet in person someone they met online. Also, a relatively smaller number of the participants reported that they exchanged suggestive or threatening messages. Another study (Liau, Khoo, and Hwaang, 2005) done in Singapore as a national survey of 1124 adolescents aged 12-17 reported that 16% of the participants had met in person with someone they first met online.
Ybarra, Mitchell, Finkelhor, and Wolak (2007) examined the relations of risky Internet use to both online harassment (being bothered, harassed, threatened or embarrassed) and unwanted sexual solicitation. The results of this study revealed that risky online behaviors such as posting personal information, or talking strangers online were closely related to online interpersonal victimization (reporting online sexual solicitation or harassment). Since relatively few studies examined the relationships of risky Internet use to cyber bullying, this present study aims to explore whether or not such risky activities are related to cyber bullying. University students were chosen as the participants of the study due to the fact that they are relatively less studied group. Additionally, aggressive behaviors may change forms and lessens severity as the individuals mature over time. Therefore, the comparisons of the results of the study to previous studies with high school students should allow the researchers to examine the different appearances of the cyber bullying across different age groups. This study explores these questions:
a) What are the risky uses of Internet among university students?
b) What are the types of cyber bullying behaviors among university students?
c) What are the types of cyber bullying that university students are subject to?
d) Is there a relationship between frequent and risky Internet use and being a cyber bully or a cyber victim?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Berson, I. R., Berson, M. J., & Ferron, J. M. (2002). Emerging risks of violence in the digital age: Lessons for educators from an online study of adolescent girls in the United States. Journal of School Violence, 1(2), 51-71. Erdur-Baker, Ö. & Kavşut, F. (2007). A new face of peer bullying: Cyberbullying. Journal of Eurasian Educational Research, 27(2), 31-42. Liau, A. K., A. Khoo, and P. Hwaang (2005) Factors influencing adolescents’ engagement in risky Internet behavior, CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(6), 513-520. Schrock, A. and boyd, d. (2008) ‘Online Threats to Youth: Solicitation, Harassment, and Problematic Content. Literature Review by the Research Advisory Board of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force’. URL (consulted Jan. 2009): http://cyber.law.harward.edu/research/isttf/RAB. Smith, P., Mandavi, J., Carvalho, M., & Tippett, N. (2005). An investigation into cyberbullying, its forms, awareness and impact, and the relationship between age and gender in cyberbullying (A Report to the Anti-Bullying Alliance). University of London, Goldsmiths College, Unit for School and Family Studies, p.6. Retrieved January 24, 2007 from http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/downloads/pdf/cyberbullyingreport final230106_000.pdf. Ybarra, M. L. & Mitchell, K. J. (2004). Online aggressor/targets, aggressors, and targets: A comparison of associated youth characteristics. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(7), 1308-1316. Ybarra, M., K.J. Mitchell, D. Finkelhor, and J. Wolak (2007) Internet Prevention Messages: Targeting the right online behaviors. Archives Pediatric Adolescence Medicine, 161(2): 138-145.
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