Cyberbullying can start with a miscue, study says

 

BY JEROME BURDI, MCT JUNE 8, 2011

 

 

 

A study released this month and co-written by a Florida Atlantic University professor reveals the dangers of cyberbullying among teenagers and how a simple text message or Facebook post taken out of context can lead to violence.

Photograph by: Photos.com, canada.com

Mixing the teenage mind, text messaging and social media can be a recipe for dangerous miscues in the communication age, experts say.

A study released this month and co-written by a Florida Atlantic University professor reveals the dangers of cyberbullying among teenagers and how a simple text message or Facebook post taken out of context can lead to violence.

As in any generation, teenagers use relationships as status symbols, experts say. But with text messages and social media, relationships are more about keeping tabs and less about giving space, said FAU professor Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

A generation ago, when people spoke face to face or on landlines, there was less misunderstanding, he said.

"Online, all you're left with is your interpretation of that text," Hinduja said. "Are they flirting? Is he cheating?"

A generation ago, there was also a parental buffer, he said. A parent may have picked up the house phone and not liked someone calling a child all the time.

But now, a teen sends out an average of 3,000 text messages a month, said Hinduja, who teaches criminology at FAU's Jupiter campus.

He co-wrote the study with Justin Patchin, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. It's available online at cyberbullying.us.

The study revealed that 85 per cent of teenage boys and 92 per cent of girls engage in psychological aggression with their dating partner. It also showed that 24 per cent of boys and 40 per cent of girls physically attack their partner.

"Privacy violations can occur as perpetrators check up on, monitor, and even stalk their partners," the study said. "There have also been incidents where aggressors utilize textual, audio, picture or video content stored on their cell phones or computers to blackmail, extort or otherwise manipulate their partner into saying or doing something against their will."

Hinduja would not disclose the school district the study is based on.

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