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Journal of
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A National School Social Work monthly dedicated to networking of parents and teachers.
Volume VII Issue 07 Contents December 2010
Page
Editorial 02
Curbing Cyber Bullying Rekha N Mistry 03
Steps to Reduce Peer Bullying Raja P
Dr Saraswathi L 09
Therapies for Bullies and Bullied Uma L 13
Bullying – An Overview Lucy Josephine A
Dr Kalamathi A 16
Behaviourism and Bullying Radha Vallury 19
Bullying : A Psycho-social Disorder Kalaiarasi M 22
Bullying: A Social Evil Padmini M 26
Anti-bullying: Role of Parents Rani Manda 29
Can Bullying be Eradicated? Sripriya P
Dr Kalaimathi A 31

Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK
Focus: Bullying
Hony. Special Editor: Ramesh K S,
Head and Student Consellor, P G Department of Social Work
Mar Gregorios College, Mogappair, Chennai
Journal of School Social W ork,
8 (New 14), Sridevi Colony, Seventh Avenue,
Ashok Nagar, Chennai 600 083
Mobile: 98406 02325 E-mail: jssw.india@gmail.com
Note: Views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily the official view of the Journal.
December 2010 Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK December 2010 01
Editorial Can Bullies Go Scot-free? Focus Curbing Cyber Bullying
Earth is considered as Mother in teachers between 2002 and 2005 Rekha N Mistry*
Hindu Mythology and meant to across Dehra Dun, Mussoorie and *Rekha N. Mistry, Assistant Professor, Master of Social Work Programme,
provide equal space and opportunity Chandigarh found that students had Sociology Dept., Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat. Gujarat. e-mail:
rekhanmistry@gmail.com
to all organisms that are inter bullying experiences both on the
Introduction personal habits, figure, or any other
dependent on each other to live playground and in the classrooms.
Due to rapid globalization, cheap object which generates curiosity in
peacefully. The human race, being The report also says, even in the age
mobile phones, easy access to the young minds is not gravely
unique has taken control over all the group of 14 to 18 years, 58.7% boys
internet and virtually no law to stop harmful, but when the same verbal
other species and edged them out and 65.09% girls reported bullying.
abusing school children by their remarks make a child suffer deep
with the so called sixth sense. And Forms of bullying may vary among
fellow classmates, the problem of depression, withdrawal symptoms or
now, through bullying, some of us boys and girls but the news that more
cyber bullying and cyber crime even affect his studies matters a lot.
want to edge out the weak, deprived than 2,300 children committed
among children and young adults are With the easy access to mobile
and voiceless ones amongst us. suicide last year many of which on the high. Bullying is a common phones and internet by the school
According to Dan Olweus, the directly attributed to bullying at
form of child abuse (Dawkins J, Hill students, the matter becomes more
Swedish researcher, bullying can be schools, is shocking to say the least.
P, 2008). Bullying classmates, juniors serious as the identity of the victim
physical, psychological, emotional, That ‘bullying’ happens at every
or even seniors in the school is a may be revealed to a bigger circle. It
social or economic independently or stage of life, at all the times and in all
common culture among the young is however, a very much neglected
in any combination. Modernity has parts of the world is not an excuse.
school students. Mostly it is fact that the habit of bullying and
added a new menace in the form of But, if it happens in India with its
unprovoked teasing which in some cyber bullying in schools open the
cyber bullying. culture of demonstrated tolerance circumstances turn as unintentional path way for the offender to become
The largest research on violence even towards the aggressors, it is to
abuse of power by one or more a habitual ragger in colleges and
against children (of both sexes) be considered seriously and every
children in order to inflict pain or even turn him into a cyber criminal.
conducted in 2007 by the Ministry of effort made to nip it in the bud.
cause distress to another child on Thus it is cyber bullying essentially
Women and Child Development, So, school social workers have to be
repeated occasions. the new high tech version of the
Government of India revealed that appointed to make schools safe for
Genesis of cyber bullying schoolyard bully. Cyber bullying is a
two out of three children were children. Correcting bullies without
Bullying in a broader sense also cruel anti-social behaviour
physically abused and every other compromising the bullied, is the real
includes cyber bullying through perpetrated either online or via cell
child faced one or more forms of challenge for School Social Work.
internet and mobile phones. phones, often anonymously, mostly
sexual abuse. But, is bullying restricted to children Technology gives today’s kids more by teens and adolescents, and
The Bullying Research Initiative in and commoners? Not so anymore.
ways to connect, socialize and sometimes by troubled adults too. It
Training and Education (BRITE) in its if WikiLeaks is to be believed, even
communicate than ever before. is the need of the hour to pay heed
survey of school students and diplomats are bullies!
Simple teasing regarding one’s to a burning social issue of cyber
02 Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK December 2010 Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK December 2010 03
bullying to prevent more deterioration
into the society. Therefore, we all
(school social workers, counsellors,
clinicians, policy makers, law
enforcement, parents, and teacher)
should show our concern to reduce
the incidence of cyber bullying .
Cyber bullying
A recent article in the Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry states
that cyber bullying is bullying using
electronic forms of contact,
repeatedly and over time against a
victim who cannot easily defend him
or herself, the electronic means of
contact may include, email, instant
messaging, text messaging on cell
phones, digital photos sent via cell
phone, social networking sites like
face book or myspace and even
blogs. Internet usage by children has
increased enormously. Online
bullying – which includes sending
threatening messages, displaying
private messages and posting
embarrassing video footage and
photos on the internet – is also
increasing. Anonymous spects of
online communication encourage
people to act aggressively, prompting
them to do things they would not dare
to try in real life. Internet has ability
04 Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK
to reach more people, which means
cyber bullying can have an even
more detrimental effect on the victim
than the conventional variety. Cyber
bullying is 24/7, 365 days. There is
no escape. The anonymity effect can
also amplify bullying negative effect
on the victim. The psychological
ramification of not knowing who’s
attacking (and who are viewing) you
can be maddening. The lack of face-
to-face contact might tempt bullies to
new levels of cruelty – message has
a harassing or hurtful element.
Cyber bullies don’t need an audience
to wreak havoc on theirs. In both
situations, the bully is going to try to
humiliate and cause harm to the
victim, but not necessarily with the
intent of that message going viral.
Anonymity
Studies have shown that cyber
bullying has a much more profound
impact than traditional schoolyard
bullying. In the school, kids feel pretty
self-contained as they know who their
bully is, and they know if they tell an
adult or a teacher, it can get handled.
The victim feels safe, he or she feels
empowered. The event can really
end very quickly. With cyber bullying,
often you don’t even know who the
December 2010
bully is. If you’re lucky, there’s a name
attached to the message. However,
very often the message comes in
anonymously, and the child feels very
anxious. They wonder, “has the
message gone out to the whole
world. Am I going to be stalked and
harassed by this person for a long
time?” this can really go on for a long
time and have a very profound impact
on the life of the child and on their
self-esteem. They can become
depressed, and this may lead kids to
suicidal tendency. Cyber bullying is
likely to be combined with face-to-
face bullying; more than 85 % of
those bullied online also reported
being bullied at school.
Multi dimensional perspectives
The issue of cyber bullying among
teens and adolescence needs to beat
at various levels. The socializing
agents –the family, the school, and
the society at large have a very
significant role in addressing the
victims as well as offenders.
What parents can do
Parents can teach and make their
kids aware about how to use
technology correctly to make them
good digital citizens, parents should
realize that cell phones tend to be
Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK
the conduit for behaviour because
they’re the grab-and-go devices.
They can also be taught for texting
and to access social networking
sites.
àParents should monitor their use
of technology Take a look at the cell
phone call logs, and the pictures and
text messages stored on their cell
phones. If they join social
networking websites, can ask to see
their friend’s profile or webpage they
create. Very often children are
taught the difference between right
and wrong, and between ethical and
unethical behaviour, the same way
parents need to take time to remind
them that the same rules apply
online and on cell phones.
àParents should keep tab on early
symptoms of cyber bullying like
withdrawal from using internet,
irritable behaviour, loneliness and
restlessness.
àIf parents find that their child is a
victim of cyber bullying, they should
print out all records of cyber bullying
behaviour and assess for degree of
harm, including those that might
require legal steps. Furthermore
they can opt for blocking the bully
on social media and by working with
December 2010 05
 email and phone service providers
to block messages from the bully.
àParents should identify the cyber
bully or bullies. They can tell the
bully to stop. If it does not work out
then file a formal complaint with the
cyber crime division or mobile/
Internet service provider.
àParents should contact child’s
school if the bullying has occurred
at school, teachers and
administrators can take protective or
disciplinary measures to stop the
bullying.
àIf cyber bullying includes threats
of violence or the advances of a
sexual predator, take legal help.
àIf still the problem persist, parents
are advise to curb the digital usage
of your child. Today’s technology
like cell phones and internet gives
us immense power and access to
huge pool of information but the
other side can leave us and our child
being victimized. Hence with
conscientious parenting, we can
make sure our children get all the
great benefits of today’s technology
and not it’s unfortunate side effects.
What children can do
Our children need to understand that
cyber bullying is not an normal
06 Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK
activity of social world due to which
they may feel helpless. Child can
take up few basic measures to
handle or avoid bullies.
àIn case you are a victim, do not
react. Your reaction is what the bully
wants—don’t give it to them. It would
be better if response is not sent to
the offender.
àIt would be better not to retaliate.
Replying may seem to be an ideal
option but it generates a cycle of
aggression.
àVictims are advised to talk to an
adult you trust. Talk to a parent, a
teacher, school counsellor or social
worker. If there isn’t an adult you feel
comfortable speaking to, try to
report the behaviour anonymously
at school.
àSave the evidence. Victim can
save the evidence and show to
someone who may be able to help
legally.
àDon’t be a passive conduit. If you
get a bullying message about
someone else, don’t forward it.
Report the behaviour to apt person.
Legal perspectives
The supreme court of India opined
as per the Raghavan Committee
report that concerted action is
December 2010
required at the level of school itself
to prevent ragging by students in
future. Thus it can be seen that there
is an urgent need to make laws
preventing school bullying and
specially cyber bullying in India.
Unfortunately, such an important
issue has been totally overlooked by
the legislators while promulgating
cyber law. Even though with the
establishment of IT Act, Indian Penal
code, Indian Evidence Act, The
Banker’s Books Evidence Act and the
Reserve bank of India Act have been
amended, Juvenile Justice Act has
not been touched upon. It is a hard
truth that cyber crime affects children
to a greatest extent and in modern
India they are practically left
defenseless in cyber world. Further
in India there is no school manual,
guidelines or uniform regulations to
prevent bullying or cyber bullying and
unfortunately neither the IT Act, 2000,
nor the Juvenile Justice Act deal with
such subjects of cyber bullying.
àThe issue of cyber bullying by the
school students has to be dealt with
as per the Juvenile Justice Act as
the offenders and victims are mostly
not fully adults or young adults. But
such a delicate issue has to be
Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK
handled by counsellors and cyber
experts as well as parents and not
through the usual judicial procedure.
àThe IT Act, 2000 needs to be
stricter with the public cyber cafes.
Just a simple notification preventing
the users to visit the porno sites is
not enough. The IT Act should
mention creation of public cyber
cafes for children only. There should
be separate cyber cafes for children
who use them for games and study
purposes.
àChild pornography and abuse in
the net have to be addressed strictly
and legally.
àThe need of the day is cyber
savvy judges and cyber help line
cells for children.
Role of schools
India lacks the legal infrastructure to
combat the core issues of cyber
crimes. Children are the softest
targets of the perilous effects of
electronic media. Traditionally, in
India, it is not the parents but the
schools which play a major part to
mend a child. Strict laws should be
made to prevent school bullying and
for ensuring the internet safety of
school children in the cyber world.
à There has to be fixed school
December 2010 07
 regulations or policy guidelines commodity and thus make it a
banning general bullying, usage of means to have fun by sending
cell phones or restricting internet offending messages to their fellow
usage inside the school premises. school mates.
Even though some schools in metro à Schools should hire/ take
cities have banned mobile phones services from the experts (school
inside the schools, stray incidents counsellor, social worker) in order
of sending offending messages to to make children more aware about
the fellow students through mobile cyber bullying and its detrimental
phones still happen and it is growing effects.
in number. Similarly, bullying Conclusion
through internet is a common The issue of cyber bullying may be
fashion amongst school students. in the infancy stage in India, but the
à There is a need of law collective efforts from various corners
clarifying the proper age to use cell will definitely be a right approach to
phones. Students who are under 18 handle and prevent the bullying
use mobile phones more as a among the school children which will
fashion than as an essential help to tackle this social issue.
References:
Punia C K(2009): Cyber Laws, Sumit Enterprises, New Delhi.
Dawkins, J and Hill , P (1995): Bullying: another form of abuse ? In David TJ (ed.)
Recent Advances in Paediatrics 13. Edinburgh, 103- 122.
www.asianage.com/lifeandstyle/cyber bullying /
www.cyberlawstimes.com/article108.html
http://www.rdasia.com/rise_of_cyber_bullying
www.safetyweb.com
Future Focus
Month HSE Topic
Jan 2011 Dr Catherine Joseph Values Education
Feb 2011 Dr Shivani Mishra School Safety Programme
Mar 2011 Dr Lakshmamma Juvenile Delinquency
Apr 2011 Sadhana Adhikary Attention Seeking Children
May2011 Rekha Maistry RET and Problem Solving
08 Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK December 2010 Journal of S C H O O L SOCIAL WORK December 2010