Cyberbullying: coping strategies among spanish students and cooperative strategies among their families and schools (1)

Author(s):

Mariangeles De la Caba Collado (presenting / submitting) Rafael Lopez Atxurra (presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

14 SES 03 B, Parental Involvement with Schools and Children‘s Education (Part 2)

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-13

17:15-18:45

Room:

K 25/11,G, 51

Chair:

Aitor Gomez

Contribution

Concern about cyberbullying has increased notably during the last decade, although to date, only a few empirical studies have focused on this particular area (Ybarra and Mitchel 2004; Raskauskas and Stoltz 2007; Kowalski, Limber and Agastston 2008; Li 2008; Mishna, Saini and Solomon 2009). This piece of research is located within the context of this concern and has a two-fold objective. Firstly, it aims to analyze how 10-14-year-old boys and girls respond to situations of cyberbullying at school. And secondly, it aims to analyze what educational and cooperation-based strategies are adopted by both families and teachers in response to cases of cyberbullying.

The sample group comprised 1713 participants. Of these, 1018 were students from the last two years of primary school and the first two years of secondary school, 604 were parents with children in the same school years as those from which the student sample group was made up, and 101 were teachers.

Method

As regards method, the data collection procedure was carried out by means of an ad hoc situational questionnaire for students, containing brief stories outlining situations of physical and psychological bullying, in both technological and non-technological contexts. Students were asked to put themselves in the position of both the victim of bullying and the friend or classmate who witnesses it. For each of the positions five possible coping responses were given: a-passive, b-negative reciprocity, c-assertiveness, d-seeking help and e-“others”. The questionnaire for parents and teachers presents the same stories as the situational questionnaire used for students. Teachers and parents are asked to indicate what they would do if told of the situation by the victim (a student in the case of teachers and their child in the case of parents). The questionnaire offers six alternatives: a-turn a blind eye, b-dictate a solution, c-play down the importance of the problem, d- help them think of solutions, fostering autonomy and reflective thinking, e- pass the problem on, f-other strategies. All the responses had previously been categorized and statistically processed, and the Chi squared values calculated. For families and teachers, another ad hoc questionnaire was used.

Expected Outcomes

The results, based on the analyses carried out using SPSSS, reveal significant differences in accordance with age and sex. Paradoxically, there is an increase in passive and negative coping strategies among older students, particularly boys. As regards the assessment of families and teachers, both groups coincide in considering these instances of bully to be particularly serious, and highlight the need for active educational strategies and direct help and cooperation not only between the family and the school, but also with other kinds of community institutions.

References

References Kowalski, R., Limber, S. and P. Agatston. 2008. Cyber bullying: Bullying in the digital age. Londres: Blackwell. Li, Q. 2008. A cross-cultural comparison of adolescents experience related to cyberbullying. Educational Research 50, no 3: 223-34. Mishna, F., Saini, M. and S. Solomon. 2009. Ongoing and online: Children and youth's perceptions of cyberbullying. Children and Youth Services Review 31, no. 12: 1222–28. Raskauskas,J. L. and A. D. Stoltz. 2007. Involvement in traditional an electronic bullying among adolescents. Developmental Psychology 43, no. 3: 564-75. Ybarra, M.L. and K. Mitchell. 2004. Youth engaging in online harassment: associations whith caregiver-child relationships, internet use, and personal characteristics. Journal of adolescents 27, no. 3: 319-36. (1) Acknowledgements. This study forms part of the research project entitled “Autonomy, positive treatment and citizenship education from a gender perspective” (EDU2008-01478/EDUC) located within the framework of the state call for grant applications for iR&D projects in 2008. It is also funded by a Basque Government grant for research groups (IT 427-10).

Author Information

Mariangeles De la Caba Collado (presenting / submitting)

University of the Basque Country

Methods of Research in Education

San Sebastian

Rafael Lopez Atxurra (presenting)

University of the Basque Country

Teacher Training College

San Sebastian

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