Cyber-Harassment Student Survey

In todays digital world, cyberharassment has become a major problem among students. It can take many forms, from cyberbullying to online trolling, and can have serious consequences for those affected. To better understand the scope of this issue, researchers from the University of Michigan recently conducted a survey to measure the prevalence of cyberharassment among students. The survey was conducted online and included a variety of questions about students experiences with cyberharassment. The survey asked about the types of cyberharassment students had experienced, how often they had experienced it, and how it had impacted their lives. It also asked about the types of responses students had taken to address cyberharassment and whether they had ever reported it to school or law enforcement officials. The survey results showed that cyberharassment was a widespread problem among students. Nearly threequarters of respondents reported having experienced cyberharassment in the past year, with more than half of those experiencing it on a weekly or monthly basis. The most common forms of cyberharassment reported were online trolling and cyberbullying. The survey also revealed that the impact of cyberharassment was significant. Nearly twothirds of respondents reported feeling anxious, depressed, or angry as a result of cyberharassment. More than half of respondents reported that cyberharassment had negatively impacted their academic performance. The survey results also showed that most students did not take action to address cyberharassment. Fewer than onethird of respondents reported having reported cyberharassment to school or law enforcement officials. The survey results suggest that cyberharassment is a serious problem among students and that more needs to be done to address it. Schools and law enforcement officials should take steps to educate students about cyberharassment and provide resources to help students deal with it. It is also important for students to be aware of the resources available to them and to know that they can report cyberharassment if they experience it.
Harassment occurs when a student‚ or several students‚ say mean and hurtful things or make fun of another student or call him or her mean and hurtful names‚ completely ignore or exclude him or her from their group of friends‚ or leave him or her out of things on purpose‚ tell lies or spread false rumors about him or her‚ send mean notes and try to make other students dislike him or her‚ and other hurtful things like that. When we talk about harassment‚ these things happen repeatedly‚ and it is difficult for the student being harassed to defend himself or herself. We also call it harassment when a student is teased repeatedly in a mean and hurtful way. But we don’t call it harassment when the teasing is done in a friendly and playful way. Also‚ it is not harassment when two students of about equal strength or power argue or fight.
1. Have you heard of students using technology to harass other students (for example‚ the Internet‚ computers‚ cell phones‚ answering machines‚ video cameras)? If yes‚ what types of technology were used?
….. …..
2. If yes‚ how was the technology used? Please describe the event.
….. …..
3. Have these types of harassing behaviors involving technology been directed toward you?
4. If yes‚ how have you been impacted? (Check One)
a. I felt sad and hurt.
b. I felt angry.
c. I felt embarrassed.
d. I felt afraid.
e. I felt anxious.
f. I missed school because of it.
g. I cried.
h. I had difficulty concentrating.
i. My marks have dr‎opped because of it.
j. I blame myself.
5. Do the people who harrassed you by using technology also harrass you in other way (not using technology)?
6. Do you ever use technology to harass others?
Copyright © 2005 Baywood Publishing Co.‚ Inc. Reproduced by special permission of the publisher‚ Baywood Publishing Co.‚ Inc.‚ 26 Austin Ave. PO Box 337‚ Amityville‚ NY 11701‚ from: Cyber-harassment: A study of a new method for an old behavior by Tanya Beran and Qing Li. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission from Baywood Publishing Co.‚ Inc..
 
 
This instrument can be found on pages 82-83 of Measuring Bullying Victimization‚ Perpetration‚ and BystanderExperiences:A Compendium of Assessment Tools‚ available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullycompendiumbk-a.pdf
For items 3‚ 4 (A to j)‚ 5 and 6
Never = 0
Once or twice = 1
A few times = 2
Many times=3
Every day = 4
Cyberbullying Victimization Scale: Items 1–6‚ 9–11
Cyberbullying Offending Scale: Items 14–18
 

Beran‚ T.‚ & Li‚ Q. (2005). Cyber-harassment: A study of a new method for an old behavior. Journal of Educational Computing Research‚ 32‚ 265–277.

Developer’s Contact Information
Tanya Beran‚ PhD
Division of Applied Psychology
University of Calgary
AB‚ Canada T2N 1N4
Tel: 403-220-5110
 
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