ARTICLE BY JOHNATHAN CHARLTON | SASKATOON STAR PHOENIX | NOVEMBER 26, 2013
The federal government’s anti-bullying bill may play well with voters, but it won’t actually prevent the problem, an American expert says.
A key section of the Conservative party’s wideranging legislation outlaws distributing sexual images without consent.
“I don’t really have a problem with that specific law,” said Sameer Hinduja, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida Atlantic University and codirector of the Cyberbullying Research Centre. “I just want to make sure we don’t move as a society in the direction of more punitive laws, because unfortunately those laws – while nice on the books and very appealing for the stakeholders and for a mass public which likes justice and retribution and scapegoats – (don’t) deter kids.
“Kids don’t pause for a moment and think, ‘Oh wait, there’s a law on the books, I don’t think I should do this.'” Hinduja suggests a model used in the U.S., where schools and school districts are mandated to have prevention, intervention and response protocols in place, such as anonymous reporting systems.
He visited Saskatoon on Monday to give a workshop for educators and other professionals who work with youth.
Winston Blake, executive director of Saskatoon’s nonprofit Restorative Action Program, said his organization often handles cases with a cyber component. RAP staff work in seven local high schools, helping teens deal with violence, bullying and crime. While previous generations of students could often leave bullying problems at school, today’s kids take those problems home when they go online.
“We need to make sure that when we’re dealing with these issues we’re on the cutting edge, that we’re responsive and, more importantly, knowledgeable about what’s happening in the cyberworld,” Blake said.
Hinduja has been studying cyberbullying for a decade. When he started, there wasn’t much science behind the issue – just media reports. So he set out to collect data from thousands of students about the occurrences, consequences and contributing factors of bullying.
It isn’t as common as one might think from the amount of media coverage the issue receives, he said. About one in five youth are victims of some form of cyberbullying. About one in eight are themselves online bullies. “I just don’t want everyone to think it’s spiralling out of control, it’s this mass epidemic, because it’s not. We just need to make sure we do address those who are being victimized because they are struggling,” he said.
It’s not really possible to paint a picture of a typical bullying victim – they come from different demographics, and race or socioeconomic status isn’t a factor, Hinduja said, noting bullies’ motivations include anything from revenge to peer pressure to boredom or a desire to boost their own self-esteem.
And while most parents are quick to react when their child is the victim, they’re hesitant to believe their kid could be a bully. The key is for parents to talk with their kids about their online lives, just as they do about hockey practice or school. Youth need to know they’re neither invisible nor invincible, he said. “We love for these conversations to happen,” he said, “so that the teen knows the parent is not oblivious to these issues. The teen knows the parent cares about the issue, doesn’t want their kid to be messing up their digital reputation or harming other people online.”
Hinduja’s website, cyberbullying.us, includes resources such as scripts and questions for parents to use with their teens.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE (PDF)