Taking on cyberbullying

By Diana Cox

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 | midnight

Scott Hensley, information literacy specialist at Bob Miller Middle School, knows a thing or two about how computers have changed school life. He is not a librarian, he notes, because computers have changed the role school libraries play in education now.

He also has researched how technology has changed bullying, and he is concerned. Because the Internet makes it anonymous, it is more brutal in some ways and can have long-term devastating effects on its victims, he said.

Hensley scheduled a seminar Nov. 12 at Miller to explain his concern to parents, but no one showed up. He thinks it's because many liken cyberbullying to "typical middle school bullying."

It is anything but typical, Hensley said.

Prepared with a PowerPoint presentation, he summarized the research he's done on the phenomenon. Cyberbullying is anonymous and can turn into a pack mentality situation very quickly, he said. One report estimates 58 percent of preteens and teenagers report witnessing or being involved in cyberbullying, he said.

Studies have shown a large increase in girls as the perpetrators, because "there is no physical confrontation involved," Hensley said.

No students have used Miller's anonymous cyberbullying reporting system on the school's main Web page yet, he said, and school officials know of no instances of cyberbullying at Miller this year. But that does not ease Hensley's concern.

Parents and school employees are behind the curve and may not know what to look for, he said.

"Right now, parents are not digital natives, but our children are," he said. "This has happened faster than parents, educators and lawmakers can get a grasp on."

Cyberbullying may seem like a game to the children who are doing it, he said. Students may post gossip — true or untrue — on a Web site that can devastate a classmate, he said. Some Web sites ask friends to vote on whether classmates are cute or hot or popular, which can hurt kids' feelings.

One danger parents may not recognize is that harmful rumors and photos can be spread rapidly through text messaging, where there are no grown-ups to see what is going on.

"Our kids live in a virtual hangout where there are no moderators," he said. "It's like the new Wild Wild West. There are no laws."

Hensley likened cyberbullying to an army of online aggressors who can terrorize a person.

Children often will not tell their parents if they are the victim of cyberbullying, he said, because they are afraid of losing their cell phone or computer. That is why he is trying to get the word out.

"I don't want parents to know what is coming down the pipes," Hensley said. "I want them to know what is already here."

He believes children need to be taught about cyberbullying as early as second and third grade, because many of them are already Internet savvy by then.

So far, Miller students get one day of instruction on cyberbullying during sixth grade computer literacy class, and two weeks ago, representatives of the Anti-Defamation League spoke to seventh graders about the issue at an assembly.

That is not enough, Hensley said.

"It needs to be taught with a continuous, comprehensive approach," he said.

Schools have limited authority over students who are engaged in cyberbullying, he said. Unless the cyberbullying happens on campus, from a school computer or a cell phone while the person is on school grounds, the school has no authority in the situation, he said. Often, cyberbullying that happens elsewhere spills onto school grounds.

Some school districts are trying to make a policy of having access to cellular phones the same way they have access to a student's locker, but the issue has not been raised to that level in Clark County, he said.

Diana Cox can be reached at (702) 990-8183 or diana.cox@hbcpub.com.