Literature Review

Cyberbullying: Bullying in the 21st Century
A Review of the Literature

Brooke Hall

Writing 391
Professor Stephen Sharp
September 20, 2013Cyberbullying: Bullying in the 21st Century
A Review of the Literature Over the past 10 years, parents, teachers and counselors have studied a new trend in bullying; cyberbullying and sexting. Just how fast this new form of bullying has grown and the repercussions associated with it has been a matter of controversy. According to recent statistics from the STOMP Out Bullying organization, 1 out of every 4 teens are bullied on a daily basis, and as many as 160,000 students stay home from school on any given day because they’re afraid of being bullied (STOMP, 2011). Other statistics from STOP show that Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgendered children experience more harassment at school and online than heterosexual students (STOMP, 2011).
While there will always be conflicts between kids, cyberbullying is an intentional cruelty, emotional and physical harassment and at times sexual abuse. Parents, teachers and counselors all agree that cyberbullying and sexting is on the rise among teens and adolescents, but they draw different conclusions when looking to answer the following questions:
1. What exactly is cyberbullying and sexting and how is it different from traditional bullying?
2. How are teens and adolescents affected?
3. What are the repercussions for those who deliberately engage in this form of bullying?
4. How do we protect our kids in a digital world?
This review focuses on these four questions and strives to answer them through the research of scholars.
What Exactly is Cyberbullying and
How is it different from Traditional Bullying? In the article “Cyberbullying, What school administrators and parents can do”, authors Andrew Beale, and Karen Hall define cyberbullying as “a form of emotional abuse that involves sending or posting hurtful, embarrassing, or threatening text or

References: Anderson, T. & Sturm, B. (2007). Cyberbullying: From Playground to Computer. Young Adult Library Services, 5(2), 24-27 Beale, A., Hall, K. (2007). Cyberbullying, What School Administrators (and Parents) Can Do Campbell, M. (2005). Cyberbullying: An old problem in a new guise? Australian Journal of Guidance and Counseling Corbett, P. (2008) Cyberbullying and Other High-Tech Crimes Involving Teens. Journal of Internet Law Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational Aggression, Gender, and Social-Psychological Adjustment Feinberg, T., Robery, N. (2009) Cyberbullying: Intervention and Prevention Strategies. National Association of School Psychologists Harvard Mental Health Board. Retrieved October 21, 2011 from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/pubrelease/isttf/ Finkelhor, D. Mitchell, K., Wolak, J. (2006) Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 10-11. Retrieved November 2, 2011 from http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2529 Keith, S., & Martin, M. E. (2005). Cyber-Bullying: Creating a Culture of Respect in a Cyber World Research Center 58-62. Retrieved November 2, 2011 from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/527/cyber-bullying McQuade III, S. C., & Sampat, N. (2008). Survey of internet and at-risk behaviors. Report of the Rochester Institute of Technology Menesini, E., Nocentini, A., Calussi, P. (2011). The Measurement of Cyberbullying: Dimensional Structure and Relative Item Severity and Discrimination Rigby, K., & Slee, P.T. (1991). Bullying among Australian school children: Reported behavior and attitudes toward victims STOMP Out Bulling (2007 - 2011). The Issue of Bullying. Darcy Knapp Consulting, Inc. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from http://stompoutbullying.com/index.php Willard, N The Legal Challenges. 75-125. Retrieved November 2, 2011 from http://csriu.org/documents/documents/cyberbullyingsextinglegal_000.pdf