Cyber Bullying: My Fatherly Freakout

For all the good that the Internet and social networking provides there is seedy underbelly that has emerged in recent years and continues to expand. Acts of cyber terrorism, e-extremism and cyber bullying are all prevalent factors and risks that we can potentially encounter in our daily Internet and social networking encounters. The main focus of this blog is cyber bullying; I’m a father of two girls and bullying is a genuine concern, in fact, to be 100% truthful bullying of my children is more than just merely a concern it's something that I genuinely fear.

When I went to school during the 1980’s and 90’s, the biggest threat was in the schoolyard or the playground. I was fortunate to never have been the victim of bullying, but I’ve seen friends and family encounter it. My sister was subject to it so I saw first hand the effects it can have on a young persons life and the major consequences it can have on their schooling. Back then however, bullying was face to face. It was real, and in your face. It could be monitored, and it could be witnessed. Teachers, parents and peers could provide support and defend victims a whole lot easier.

Today things have changed. Bullying is masked, its more often performed virtually. It can be totally anonymous and it is easily hidden from those who can assist in preventing it, As pointed out by Mishna, Saini and Solomon “bullying now can happen all day since technology has extended ‘schoolyard bullying’ to home computers and cell phones, making it possible for non-stop bullying” (2009). This is terrifying. Bullying used to be encountered in specific places, that is, a physical area where there was a bully and a victim present at the one time. Nowadays bullying can follow you and according to Mishna, Saini and Solomon can take shape in the form of posting, coercing, backstabbing, and masquerading

So how do we as parents control this? The obvious approach is monitoring our children’s usage of the Internet. Easier said than done. A 2005 study found that 61% of parents reported to have set limitations on their child’s internet use, however the same study found that only 38% of adolescents reported having such limitations (Wang cited in Liau, Khoo and Ang, 2008). A fairly big divide in those numbers. In all likelihood, parents probably are setting these limitations, but lets face it, its not uncommon for the individualism of adolescence to take over and ignore instruction. Lets take the parent responses in this study at face value, 61%. That still leaves 39% who aren’t setting any limitations, even more frightening!

There is little doubt that cyber bullying is a serious threat to our children, there is also little doubt that it’s a form of bullying that can in some circumstances be impossible to monitor. Our children are connecting with the Internet at younger ages, be it for communicating with friends, researching for school projects or to play games. It’s a way of life and the most common means of communication and participation these days. Johnson (2010) surveyed a sample of six to nine year old students and found that over 60% reported using the Internet at home, mainly for playing games and web browsing. The same sample reported that nearly 90% use the Internet at school. 

We as parents need to seriously consider how we can control the online activities of children. I am all for allowing my children to be independent, in fact I encourage it within reason, but the threat is too real online. As a Dad hell bent on protecting my children, I genuinely fear cyber bullying and whilst I won’t wholly restrict my children’s internet use, I will be looking over their shoulders often and most importantly I will educate them on the threats which exist and the need to speak up and inform my wife and I in the event that something sinister takes place.

REFERENCES

Mishna, F, Saini, M, & Solomon, S 2009, 'Ongoing and online: Children and youth's perceptions of cyber bullying', Children And Youth Services Review, 31, 12, pp. 1222-1228, E-Journals, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 February 2013.

Liau, A, Khoo, A, & Ang, P 2013, 'Parental Awareness and Monitoring of Adolescent Internet Use', Current Psychology, Preprints, pp. 1-17, E-Journals, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2013.

Johnson, G 2010, 'Young children’s Internet use at home and school: Patterns and profiles', Journal Of Early Childhood Research, 8, 3, pp. 282-293, E-Journals, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 February 2013.