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I was talking to a colleague recently, and we were bemoaning the fact that all of these legislative actions (laws, prosecutions, suspensions of driver’s licenses) are only addressing the symptoms of cyberbullying and not its cause(s).  Moreover, Justin and I have been hearing from a variety of information technology companies working on software to combat cyberbullying with a symptomatic response.  This is all fine and well – there is a need for these laws and mandates and policies and technological solutions.  However, they do not make any headway in clarifying the underlying issues that have contributed to adolescent peer aggression over the last few decades (or since the beginning of time – whichever time frame you’d like to use!).  So exactly what should we be doing with our time and efforts – as the major plan of action to which everything else is supplementary?  Promoting education and awareness (among children, teenagers, parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, school nurses, law enforcement, and the general community).  And then formal evaluation to determine the measurable benefits of those specific education and awareness strategies.  And then refinement of those strategies, followed by re-implementation.  This has worked in the area of traditional bullying, and with traditional forms of delinquency among school-aged youth.  There is increasing anecdotal evidence that it will also work when dealing with cyberbullying.  We believe that our research will demonstrate a similar effectiveness as we continue to study this phenomenon over the next few years.

Perhaps you saw this article detailing how a school district in Oregon is proposing to work with the state’s Department of Transportation to suspend the driver’s license of a student who has been suspended or expelled at least twice for harassing, intimidating, or mistreating another student or employee using electronic means. Again, it is great to see that strategies for response are being increasingly proposed, but I question this policy’s effectiveness. First off, cyberbullying occurs frequently among middle-schoolers and those who still yet can’t drive – so the deterrent reach of this policy is narrow. Second, if perpetrators are no longer allowed to legally drive – what will they be doing with their time? They will be likely be online more, since they have no mobility. They will likely also be mad at the world (to some degree) since they have no mobility. They might also be even more upset or mad with their victim(s) for contributing to the crappy situation in which they find themselves. These negative emotions towards the victim might lead to more bullying or cyberbullying.

I will say that the bill they passed last year (HB2637) requiring school districts to ban and formally respond to cyberbullying – is well-conceived.

I am not sure if you all saw this, but another youth has hung himself after being cyberbullied on Bebo – which is very popular in the U.K. Apparently, one of the threats the 13-year-old boy received through that social networking site read “If you don’t kill yourself then we will do it for you.” It is so unfortunate how this is occurring with increasing frequency. And some adults say to us – what is wrong with these kids that they are so troubled by online harassment – can’t they just deal with it? Can’t they just ignore it and not let it bother them? The answer is a resounding “no.” Adolescents struggle mightily with issues of self-esteem, self-doubt, and self-identity as they try to figure out who they are. And they are hypersensitive to the thoughts and opinions of their peer group. Hopefully you remember feeling the same way when you were growing up. While cyberbullicide is definitely an exception and not the norm, it appears to me as a solution that some youth would definitely consider, based on our research. In our most recent study, we found that victims of cyberbullying were significantly more likely to have serious thoughts of suicide than those who had not been victimized. Clearly, this is cause for concern.

We are happy to report that our cyberbullying book is now expected to be in print on August 5th, 2008. We are very excited to have the book in our hands (and perhaps even more excited to have it in YOUR hands!). It represents the culmination of over five years of research and we worked very hard to make sure the book was comprehensive and easy to read. I will be doing a couple of presentations at the White Earth Communities Collaborative Brain Development Conference in Mahnomen, MN on August 13th and 14th and will have copies of the book available for purchase and signing. More info about this conference can be found here. We’ll post more details about the book as the release date approaches.

Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist has just signed into law the “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act.” This is due mostly to the efforts of our friend Debbie Johnston from Cape Coral, Florida, a first-grade schoolteacher whose son Jeffrey took his life after being bullied and cyberbullied.

This law:

- requires districts to adopt policy prohibiting bullying & harassment, and to specify procedures for reporting, investigating, notifying, referring, and collecting data on incidents

- provides a measure of immunity for school districts in their investigation and response

- provides restrictions with respect to defense of action & application of provisions (which basically means that victims who defend themselves by fighting back won’t also be punished)

-makes DOE Safe Schools Funds conditional on compliance (which means that these anti-bullying and anti-cyberbullying policies must be in place in order for the school district to keep receiving federal funds)

The law also states: “The physical location or time of access of a computer-related incident cannot be raised as a defense in any disciplinary action initiated under this section.” IANAL, but from my understanding this means that a perpetrator cannot point to the fact that the bullying took place via an electronic device as a justification to temper or qualify the severity of the behavior.

Congratulations, Debbie. We share your joy with this outcome.