Spring Break
Cyber bullying on the rise in nation
Student, faculty member lead national research on new problem spreading via e-mail
Matthew Werlein
Issue date: 5/9/05 Section: Campus News
Home is where kids are supposed to feel safe. They are with their family and away from the bullies at school.
Or are they?
Justin Patchin, assistant professor of political science at UW-Eau Claire and Sameer Hinduja from Florida Atlantic University are conducting research on cyber bullying. Junior Adam Hinz is their student research assistant.
According to the About Kids Health Web site, cyber bullying is "intentional harassment that occurs through electronic media."
Patchin and Hinduja posted a survey about cyber bullying from Dec. 22 to Jan. 22, Hinz said.
"It had a wide range of questions, from kids' experiences online, how long they spend (online), what they did and experiences with being harassed," he said.
The survey also asked questions to those who bully in order to determine their motives, he said.
"We received roughly 6,000 (responses)," Hinz said. "Respondents (ranged) from early elementary school ages to their 30s."
The target population was individuals under 18 years of age, Hinz said.
"We used only the sample of respondents under 18, which was around 1,400," he said of the study's findings.
Several Web sites speculated to be frequented by children also posted the survey, which includes sites on Harry Potter, Orlando Bloom and Avril Lavigne, he said.
Hinz said they also need to go into schools to conduct surveys with students so they can conduct random sampling.
This is one of the threats to the outside factors of the study, he said.
The traditional stereotype image is the male schoolyard bully, he said, but the study proved to show otherwise. Online, girls were slightly more likely than boys to engage in cyber bullying, he said.
This is very different from traditional bullying, which is a male-dominated form of aggression, Hinz said.
The study also found bullied kids online were the same kids who were being bullied at school, he said.
"We need more analysis to find out their characteristics which cause people to (bully) them," Hinz said.
Or are they?
Justin Patchin, assistant professor of political science at UW-Eau Claire and Sameer Hinduja from Florida Atlantic University are conducting research on cyber bullying. Junior Adam Hinz is their student research assistant.
According to the About Kids Health Web site, cyber bullying is "intentional harassment that occurs through electronic media."
Patchin and Hinduja posted a survey about cyber bullying from Dec. 22 to Jan. 22, Hinz said.
"It had a wide range of questions, from kids' experiences online, how long they spend (online), what they did and experiences with being harassed," he said.
The survey also asked questions to those who bully in order to determine their motives, he said.
"We received roughly 6,000 (responses)," Hinz said. "Respondents (ranged) from early elementary school ages to their 30s."
The target population was individuals under 18 years of age, Hinz said.
"We used only the sample of respondents under 18, which was around 1,400," he said of the study's findings.
Several Web sites speculated to be frequented by children also posted the survey, which includes sites on Harry Potter, Orlando Bloom and Avril Lavigne, he said.
Hinz said they also need to go into schools to conduct surveys with students so they can conduct random sampling.
This is one of the threats to the outside factors of the study, he said.
The traditional stereotype image is the male schoolyard bully, he said, but the study proved to show otherwise. Online, girls were slightly more likely than boys to engage in cyber bullying, he said.
This is very different from traditional bullying, which is a male-dominated form of aggression, Hinz said.
The study also found bullied kids online were the same kids who were being bullied at school, he said.
"We need more analysis to find out their characteristics which cause people to (bully) them," Hinz said.
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