Abstract
Cyber-bullying has become rampant among our adolescent population. Garrett (2003) reports, “Bullying generally begins in the elementary grades, peaks in the sixth through the eighth grades, and persists into high school” (p. 11). So although bullying is a problem at virtually every level of schooling in this country, it is particularly pervasive during the middle school years. Building and maintaining positive social relationships is of paramount importance to students in this age range. Students’ relationships and conflicts with their peers can often have as much impact on their academic performance and level of success as what and how they are taught by their teachers (Simmons, 2002). In addition to problems with their academic performance, adolescents who are bullied are also sometimes deeply and negatively affected in terms of their healthy social and psychological development (Breguet, 2007). One of the devastating effects of becoming a victim of adolescent cyber-bullying is extreme isolation, so when these victims begin to feel hopeless and even suicidal about their situations, they often do not reach out for help from their parents, friends, or teachers. Students, who feel completely alone, like no one else has ever experienced what they are going through, might be pushed to act on their suicidal feelings. Thus the most damaging psychological effect of bullying that can occur is adolescent suicide (Breguet, 2007). There have been several newsworthy incidents over the last few years in which young teenagers have committed suicide as a result of being bullied and harassed online. The data analyzed in this study was collected in several sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classrooms in two northern California middle schools. Two different sources of data were collected and examined. The first source was survey questions regarding the frequency and intensity of middle school students’ bullying observations and experiences indicated on a Likert Scale and using a ‘yes or no’ format. The second source was open-ended survey questions that gave the respondents the opportunity to express themselves in their own words, providing narratives primarily concerned with the students’ perceived intent of bullies and typical characteristics of victims of bullying. Both types of survey questions included more specific queries regarding the particulars of cyber-bullying and gender issues in bullying. The methodology employed in this study involved both quantitative and qualitative research designs. Quantitative data was analyzed using a Chi-square and simple comparisons of percentages while qualitative data was analyzed utilizing a thematic approach. Traditional schoolyard bullying and cyber-bullying are both major problems in the middle school population. There are many negative repercussions of bullying in the lives of the students who are targeted, including emotional trauma, physical danger (including suicide), interference in healthy social relationships, and academic performance problems. There are several gender differences in bullying, both in terms of how boys bully versus how girls bully and how school authorities deal with the bullying problems among each gender, but there are similarities as well. Boy bullying, for example, has always been more physical than girl bullying. And while it is true that girls still bully primarily using relational aggression, girls have also started to bully more and more using physical tactics. The bullying prevention and intervention strategies currently in place are largely ineffective. As an anti-bullying strategy, schools should look to incorporate character education into their curricula.