Forms of Cyber-Bullying

E-mail: 86% of students polled have e-mail accounts. E-mail can be used to send harassing or threatening messages. It is possible to trace the account but difficult to prove who actually sent the message. E-mail filters are also available to delete undesirable senders.

Instant Messaging: Users can create a private chat room with their select group. It has become a large part of the social lives of today’s youth.

Chat Rooms: This is real time communication between two users via the computer.

Bash Boards: This is a nickname for an online bulletin board or virtual chat room. Young people can go here anonymously and write anything they want true or false.

Small Text Messages (SMS): SMS allows small text messages to be sent to mobile phones.

Web Sites: This is a location on the World Wide Web. Cyber bullies create sites that mock, harass or torment others. Responsible servers will monitor and remove these abusive sites. The problem is that some servers are not responsible or are too big to monitor effectively.

Voting Booths: Some web sites are designed to allow users to set up polling stations. Bullies design mean sites asking people to vote on such things as “Ugliest” or “Stupidest” members of their communities.

Source: Young Canadians In a Wired World Survey (2005, Media Awareness Network)