THE CYBERBULLYING AND THE EDUCATIONAL RESOUCES

Florica PARAGINA1,2

, Silviu PARAGINA1,3

, Alexandru JIPA1

1Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, 405 Atomistilor Street, Magurele, Jud. Ilfov, CP MG 11, 077125, Romania 2Teacher Training Centre, 315A Splaiul Independentei, Bucharest, 060043, Romania

3National Centre for Staff Training In Pre-University Education, 10 Spiru Haret Street, Bucharest, 010176, Romania

floricaparagina@yahoo.com, silviuparagina@yahoo.com, alexandru.jipa@gmail

Abstract: Cyberbullying as an Internet adapted form of the traditional bullying can seriously impact on

the health and the personality of those involved in an e-learning activity. The cyberbullying can affect

all types of educational resources used in an e-learning course.

Keywords: bullying, cyberbullying, e-didactics, learning management systems, information and

communication technologies (ICT).

I. INTRODUCTION ON CYBERBULLYING

The introduction of the modern information and communication technologies (ICT) in the

educational systems is the beginning of a major change: the didactic paradigm transformation into

e-didactic paradigm [4], [5].

The learning at distance courses offered by mail, had been adapted for the e-mail systems,

and, then, for the Internet presentations. The eLearning platforms, the corporate eLearning courses and

the M-learning ones are some of the new types of training developed using the ICT tools and Internet.

The Internet represents both the distribution environment of the acceptable materials and the

communication channel between the actors involved.

The movement of the emphasis from teaching to learning is one of the most important features

of the eLearning. It implies new requirements for educational systems, such as orientation and

guidance services. An ICT educational environment is more "open", but, it requires adapted schedules,

a new architecture for the data transfer between tutor and student, and new skills for school teachers.

Now, it is considered that the eLearning succeeded to update the best parts of traditional face

to face (FtF) educational system. The wide spreading of the eLearning underlined a threat: the violent

behaviour of the participants.

Bullying, violence, harassment and disruptive classroom behaviour are serious and interrelated problems in schools throughout Europe and the rest of the world [8].

The school violence is one of most impressive feature of the traditional education system that

was defined [8]: an aggressive behaviour where the actor or perpetrator uses his or her own body or an object (including a weapon) to inflict (relatively serious) injury or discomfort upon another

individual (Smith, Morita, Junger-Tas, Olweus, Catalano, & Slee, 1999; Smith, 2003). Olweus (1999, p. 12, apud [8]). The definition is referring to categories such as:

verbal, physical, sexual and psychological violence;

social exclusion;

violence relating to property;

violence relating to theft;

threats;

insults;

rumour;

spreading. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) definition goes beyond physical harm and it

includes threats as well as actual violence [8]. Debarbieux (2003) (apud [8]) identifies ideological and

historical influences on the ways in which a society chooses to define the phenomenon of violence.

The school violence is so common that it observed only when is missing. As a sample, the

idea of aggression in courses was underlined by the Romanian teachers, trainees in the online course

T&T Telework and Training for trainers [9] posted on a Moodle platform, hosted by CTNAM server. They considered that this kind of training:

reduces conflicts with peers, colleagues and superiors;

removes the emotional barriers;

optimizes the teaching learning process;

offers a low interaction between students;

has a lack of motivation in learning. There are a lot of differences between learning management system (LMS) for the eLearning

trainings and for the FtF trainings, but the violence and bulling appear as common.

A violent behaviour is described as bullying [1] if it should meet at least three conditions:

intention to cause harm to the victim;

repetition of the abusive behaviour over a period of time;

imbalance of power between victim and bully. There are six different types of actor, that can be identified in the dynamic of the bullying

phenomenon [1]:

aggressor;

reinforcer (support the aggressor);

assistant (support the aggressor);

defender (tries to help the victim);

outsider (ignores the abuse);

victim. Some individuals act as victims and aggressors at the same time [1].

Now, bullying is evolving negatively towards new forms of aggression [1], because Its path has converged with that of the ICTs, producing the phenomenon we now call cyberbullying.

The cyberbullying is bullying conducted through electronic channels of personal contact, such

as the Internet or cell phones.

One of the first brochures on cyberbullying (GEW, 2007) was edited by the German

Education Union (GEW) [6] and it had offered a more wide definition cyberbullying as follows: The term cyberbullying is used if teacher or pupils get continuously libelled, threatened or harassed by

means of uploading pictures or videos, e-mails, chat-rooms and SMS (i.e. by means of pictures or

videos that get uploaded to YouTube). Cyberbullying [7] may be defined also as: intentional offending, threatening, embarrassing or

harassing someone by means of modern communication devices in most cases over a longer period. Cyberbullying either takes place in the Internet (i.e. by means of e-mails, instant messages like ICQ, in

social networks, by means of videos or web portals) or by means of mobile phones (i.e. SMS or

harassing phone calls). In many cases the offender called bully stays anonymous, so that the victim does not know who was offending him/her (klicksafe, 2009 apud [6]).

1.1 The classifications of the cyberbullying

Cyberbullying classification depends on the communication channel through which the abuse

occurs and by the nature of the abuse itself. Theses classifications could vary in the future due to

technological advances. For example: now, after 3G/3.5G cell phone technology development it is

increasingly frequent mobile phone use to surf the Internet and vice versa.

Depending on the ICT communication channels (Smith et al, 2008, apud [1]), there are:

the cell phones communications forms so called cell phone cyberbullying or also called happy slapping:

o SMS: sending or receiving abusive text messages by mobile phone;

o MMS: taking, sending or receiving unpleasant photos and/or videos using mobile phones (e.g. happy slapping);

o Calls: sending or receiving upsetting phone calls (e.g. malicious prank calls).

Internet communications forms, called Internet cyberbullying: o E-mail: Malicious or threatening emails directly to a victim, or about a victim to

others;

o Chatrooms: Intimidation or abuse when participating in chat rooms; o Instant Message: Abusive instant messages (MSN, Yahoo, AIM etc.) ; o Websites: Where secret or personal details are revealed in an abusive way or where

nasty or unpleasant comments are posted. May also involve uploading humiliating

photos or videos on a webpage or posting degrading polls.

The classification by the type of behaviours (cp. Willard, 2007 apud [1]):

Flaming: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language;

Harassment: Repeatedly sending nasty, mean, and insulting messages;

Denigration: Dissing someone online. Sending or posting gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships;

Impersonation: Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material to get that person in trouble or danger or to damage that persons reputation or friendships;

Outing: Sharing someones secrets or embarrassing information or images online;

Trickery: Talking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information, then sharing it online;

Exclusion: Intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an online group;

Cyberstalking: Repeated, intense harassment and denigration that includes threats or creates significant fear.

1.2 Tactics associated with cyberbullying

The researchers [1] observed the tactics used by cyberbullies against their targets: Some of

them are:

Bashing direct verbal or visual attacks at any time committed using the Internet. The attacks may be:

o post comments on blogs or send text messages from a phone; o downloaded photos or stolen photo of targets, from an online source in order to alter

images in damaging ways or add derogatory comments and post them online for

others to see. (example given (e.g.): the videoing of students being beaten, and, after

that, the videos are then uploaded online).

Exclusion the victims are excluded from participating in online activities with their peers, which can bring on feelings of rejection. (e.g.: in an online gaming environment,

group blogging environment, or any other password-protected community, such as. an

instant messaging or text messaging environment).

Flaming An intense, short-lived argument that often includes offensive, rude and vulgar language, insults and sometimes threats. (e.g.: text or instant messaging, in blogs of social

networking sites, chat rooms, discussion boards, or online gaming sites).

Outing Disclosing secrets or personal and private information about the target that embarrasses or humiliates him or her. (e.g.: to forward a message from the target that

contains intimate, personal information to others).

Posing is an indirect attack. The cyberbully creates Web sites pretending to be the target. Alternatively they might use the targets user access information to engage in abuse such as, posting defamatory comments. This kind of cyberbullying can cause the rejection

of the target/targets by his/her/their friend due to the things posted by the aggressor.

1.3 Cope with cyberbulling

At one time or another, bullying and its new form cyberbullying are universal issues that

touches many persons, families at school, business or in the community, regardless of age, gender,

race, religion or socio-economic status The effects of bullying can last a lifetime. Bullying also has

economic costs associated with decreased productivity, lost man-hours, absenteeism, workplace

aggression, harassment and intimidation.

After the observations of the first forms of cyberbullying that affected the community health

and wellness the EU initiated actions for preventing the extension of this phenomenon.

In 1999, the EU initiated the Safer Internet Programme for promoting safe use of modern communication media and protecting consumers from undesirable content. This is an action plan focusing on preventive measures against illegal, undesirable, or detrimental content, and on

emphasizing the importance of a safe media environment and of public awareness. This includes

providing relevant information to the general public and cultivating cooperation in a wide range of

partnerships among societal groups and institutions. With the adoption of Safer Internet Programme

2009-2013 by the European Parliament and the Council, the programme started into its third round and

was extended for another four years [11].

II. THE "SAFER INTERNET PROGRAMME" OF THE EU

The Safer Internet Programme has its information website [11] financed by the European

Commission. In this project are involved 26 European countries which are part of the Safer Internet

Centre created for the implement of the Safer Internet Programme (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,

Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,

Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,

Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain , Sweden, United Kingdom).

The European Commission's targets in the Safer Internet Centre from each country are divided

in the components:

Awareness Centre, promoting media literacy and awareness on the internet (each country has its Awareness Centre);

Hotline for reporting illegal content (are not be developed in Portugal, Lithuania, Italy);

Helpline as counseling centre for children, young people, parents and teachers (are not be developed in Sweden and Norway).

2.1 Klicksafe Programme

In Germany, the Safer Internet Programme is being implemented by the Saferinternet DE

group under the name Klicksafe. To this belong, apart from the Awareness Centre klicksafe, the

Hotlines internet-beschwerdestelle.de (implemented by eco and FSM) and jugendschutz.net as well as

the child Helpline Nummer gegen Kummer.

Klicksafe launched a broad campaign on cyberbullying in 2009 and defined cyberbullying [6].

Klicksafe is a mutual project of the Central Authority for Media and Communication

Rhineland-Palatinate (LMK), which is responsible for coordination, and the Media Authority for

North Rhine-Westphalia (LfM).

2.2 Safer Internet RO SIC: Romanian Safer Internet Centre

The objective of the Safer Internet Centre Romania is to build on the good progress of the

ongoing Romanian Safer Internet Project (Project reference: SI-2009-SIC-123922) [11].

The objective of the Safer Internet Centre Romania is to build on the good progress of the

ongoing Romanian Safer Internet Project 2008-2010, adding value through continuous qualitative and

quantitative development of actions and strategies. This means improving cooperation with the

relevant national private and governmental bodies and policy makers in order to establish best

European practices in Romania. The already established Hotline and Helpline structures, Youth Panel

activities, awareness materials, and lobby actions will be extended targeting a larger-scale impact,

stressing the importance of online literacy concepts next to online safety issues.

The Consortium will give a European perspective through best practice exchanges, regional

camps and conferences organized in collaboration with other Safer Internet Centers. European

contribution will be enhanced by developing technological solutions in other European languages.

The consortium is formed by: Save the Children Romania (has been developing, ever since

1990, social and educational programs for all children, child rights monitoring activities, paying

special attention to children in difficulty), Positive Media (developer of genium.ro and sigur.info

portals, dedicated for safe internet navigation, is involved in the promotion of several projects Pro-

Life, against alcoholism, drug consumption, as well as support programs for the elderly, children and

disadvantaged families), the Romanian Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children FOCUS (has done an important contribution in the decrease of child disappearance and sexual exploitation

phenomena through awareness campaigns for parents and children, mass media involvement,

authorities and volunteers' activities).

III. EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES AFFECTED BY CYBERBULLYING

The tutors, the editing teacher, the non-editing teacher and the administrators of the eLearning

platforms have to take care about the cyberbulling actions. These actions are more frequent when the

authors can be anonymous. The MOODLE platform for eLearning offers a lot of tools for preventing

cyberbullying: restricted access, computers identification and a good monitoring for the trainees and

teachers activities on the platform.

The course development for the MOODLE platform depends on the editing teachers abilities in computer sciences, and sometimes these induce a too complex architecture for the learning content

of the course. In this situation, some trainees could become aggressors.

Resource Oriented Architectures is a new approach than can be used on the MOODLE

Platform [10]. This approach where the mention of the resources required to support the learning actually invokes them would put power and control directly back into the hands of the people who know best what is needed the teacher. This also begins to cut out the middle man, the instructional designers or e-learning expert, who can sometimes strangle educational ambition with a subjective and fanatical desire to use technology for the sake of technology [2009].

At the beginning of an eLearning program is better to plan one or two meetings FtF, in order

to prevent cyberbullying induced by the shadow of the unknown identity. Also, the personal data of

the trainees have to be protected, and the access to them has to be restricted for avoiding a posing

action.

The forums post and the e-mails sent by the trainees and personal involved in the program

have to be analyzed every day, for preventing bashing, flaming, exclusion, outing and, even, posing.

The eLearning content with great dimension, difficult to be downloaded (or uploaded), or

edited with uncommon soft (difficult to find), may induce negative sentiments both for the trainees

and tutors. This may be the first impulse for an aggressor.

The communications set of rules is better to be posted near the course learning content and, also, to be negotiated from the eLearning platforms first access of the trainees.

A good action is to explain to the trainees to speak out, and ask for help (they do not need to

feel ashamed for this). Everybody needs help at some point, and nobody expects you to have all the answers.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

Sociologists and criminologists offer a wider perspective by charting the influence that culture, society and politics exert on school violence. From this point of view, school violence is

regarded as a result of social pathology and social vulnerability (Vettenburg, 1999; Walgrave, 1992) [8]. Also, the cyberbulling has its roots in the social pathology and in the new communications technologies.

The new technology can change the human behaviour and may produce more dangerous

cyberbullying interactions. Today M learning is one of the best options for student centred learning

environment, but it can be rapidly involved in cyberbullying actions, because it never needed any long

term framework.

Often, in the educational field, bullying is the number one non-academic issue that many

educators face. They have problems in identifying and coping with a bulling or a cyberbulling event.

The EU support activities for safety both in schools and in the virtual environment promote

the defenses modalities against bullying and cyberbullying.The prevention of bullying through education and awareness IS POSSIBLE and that all of us can play a role.

We need to understand the issue of cybrbullying more deeply. We need to learn about what the world's best research is telling us. We need to be aware of practical approaches, policies, programs

and resources that are effective. The critical question is DO WE HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND

THE WILL? [2], [3].

Acknowledgements

Ms. Florica Paraginas activity is supported by the University of Bucharest, from POSDRU/6/1.5/S/24 Financial support for doctoral studies on the complexity of nature, environment and human society research grant.

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