In the recent scenario, it can be seen that media plays a great role in the lives of the individuals. So, in this paper the discussion will be made on the thesis statement related to “misuse of media”. It can be stated that media is a collective communication tool which is used to convey the information. It is considered as one of the important medium which is used by the people or the public.
So, people are misusing the media which is affecting the lives of the individuals. It can be seen that through media like social media sites the issue related to loss of privacy is enhancing. There are many pictures of the people which are leaked from their Facebook personal profile and also the students leave digital footprints which can be harmful in their future or can be used by the other people (Vishwanath, 2014).
Cyber bullying is also considered as one of the misuse which is done through media. It can be analyzed that the serious issue is concerned with the loss of privacy. In this sexual predation takes place on the social networking sites. With this there are many people who are facing the issue of depression and also committed suicide. With the use of the media there are many people who focus on gathering the personal details of the people like their phone number and start harassing them through fake calls (Parker & Hu, 2016). So, it is important to consider the right actions so that misuse of media can be reduced.
The aim of the study is to identify strategies that can be used to protect individuals from cyber bullying.
For the purpose of this study, four academic articles are selected that studies cyber bullying prevention strategies using which two research questions have been developed around the topic. Article 1 by Wölfer et al. (2014) studies the efficacy of the cyber bullying prevention program ‘Media Heroes’ using a 9 month pretest-posttest design taking longitudinal data from 593 middle schools in Germany. The median age was 13.3 years and included students from 35 classes who have exhibited cyber bullying behavior in the past. The result showed that students who underwent the cyber bullying program showed reduced cyber bullying behaviors. Article 2 by Espelage and Hong (2017) studied various forms of interventions for cyber bullying, such as school based interventions, educational materials, websites, tip sheets and classroom curriculum to develop recommendations for cyber bullying prevention programs. The author analyzed primary studies of other researchers on the efficacies of various prevention or intervention programs used in various countries to develop the recommendations. The authors found that school and classroom based intervention played a significant role in the reduction of cyber bullying behavior while educational and online materials further reinforced the program. Article 3 by Gómez-Ortiz et al.
(2018) studied how parenting practices can prevent or favor the development of cyber bullying behavior among children using a primary research. The authors studied a sample of 2060 Spanish school students of the median age of 14.34 years and performed a binary logistic regression and ANOVA between the parenting styles and incidence of cyber bullying behavior. The results show that effective parenting can help to prevent such behavior among children. Article 4 by Cassidy et al. (2018) studies the role of parents in the prevention of cyber bullying behavior and the findings were based on the study conducted at a private school in West Canada which involved 177 students between grade 8 and 10 and interviewed 15 educators employed in the school. The study showed that parental supervision on the usage of computer and development of cyber kindness can significantly help to reduce cyber bullying behavior among the children.
Wölfer et al. (2014) and Espelage and Hong (2017) studied how school based intervention program for cyber bullying can be useful for the prevention of such behavior among children. ‘Media Heroes’ which is a school based cyber bullying prevention program that has been used for the middle school which has been implemented by the school teachers within the curriculum of the school. The program moreover is not a voluntary extracurricular one, due to which students cannot opt out of it but has been made into a part of the regular course which all students have to undergo. According to the authors, such a framework allows a very high fidelity of the intervention program and helps to develop long term effects on the behavior of the participant students. This is also supported by the fact that no external experts were involved in the program and teachers of the school were involved in its implementation, enforcement and re-application (Parker et al., 2016).
The authors also suggested that such behavior can be reduced by developing a caring and respectful environment and culture within the school, developing a clear outline of behaviors that can be considered as cyber bullying, developing a clear policy against cyber bullying, developing procedural strategy to address any incident of cyber bullying, implementing strategies to increase awareness about cyber bullying and its impacts, implementing curriculum activities across all grades, using awareness videos, supporting professional development of the teachers on the implementation of anti bullying programs, involving the parents in the efforts, helping the development of a peer support system to discourage cyber bullying, developing an action plan for reporting incidents, using a ‘shared concern’ and ‘no blame’ approach to address the incidents and performing routine and regular reviews on the effectiveness of the school policies in the reduction of cyber bullying incidents (McCoy et al., 2018; Evans et al., 2014). Such aspects have also been supported by the studies of Chan and Wong (2015) who studied a whole-school intervention approach within Chinese schools in the reduction of school bullying as well as cyber bullying. The studies found that preventative or intervention programs included in the school curriculum helped to reduce the propensity of bullying behavior among the students (Cantone et al., 2015).
Espelage and Hong (2017) also supported similar conclusions that school based intervention programs against cyber bullying helped to significantly reduce such behavior in schools and outside it. The authors studied various forms of intervention strategies such as using educational materials and online resources to educate the students about the adverse impacts of bullying as well as cyber bullying. The authors also suggested that disclosures of bullying incidents by students should be taken seriously by the healthcare providers, parents and teachers and hospital intake forms should include such information so that such incidents can be effectively reported.
The authors suggested that the coordinated involvement of teachers, parents as well as healthcare providers is necessary to implement the preventative program in a more holistic manner, which can further help to ensure the success of the program (Bjereld et al., 2017). The studies showed that across many schools where cyber bullying prevention programs have been implemented, most of them showed a marked reduction in the incidents. This clearly supports the findings by Wölfer et al. (2014) who also supported that preventative programs implemented in the school curriculum can show better results and help to prevent cyber bullying behavior among the students. According to Zych et al. (2017), school based programs against cyber bullying can also have a long term effect on the students, as a result of which, even after the completion of the program, its effects can continue for many years into adulthood and therefore helping in the reduction of such problematic behavior in the future. Barkoukis et al (2016) pointed out that the reduction in the bullying behavior is caused due to an improvement in the psychosocial risk factors such as attitudes, social norms, behavioral expectations and actor prototype. The author suggested that the prevention programs help to change how students behave in certain situations and develop among them a sense of empathy and respect towards others which in turn changes their behavior. The programs can also improve the moral engagement, helping the student’s judge whether an action is morally right or wrong and also helps to fully understand the consequences of bullying behavior which can deter them from exhibiting such behavior towards others (Vishwanath, 2014).
From these studies it can be understood that in order to be effective, cyber bullying prevention programs need to be incorporated within the school curriculum where all the students would be required to undergo the course. It is also important that an environment of respect, inclusiveness and care is developed within the school that can ensure the students teach others well. Developing clear outline of activities that can be considered as bullying or cyber bullying can help to report any such incidents as well as make the students aware of which behavior can result in others being bullied. Anti bullying policies are also vital to ensure they are being reinforced properly and prevent its occurrence. Proper action is required whenever an incidence of bullying or cyber bullying occurs for which it is vital to have strategic procedural steps as well as a structured approach to record and report the incident. Moreover, developing the preventative programs within the class curriculum further helps to reinforce such strategy and prevent such behavior among the students.
Gómez-Ortiz et al. (2018) studied how parenting practices can impact the bullying or cyber bullying behavior among children. The authors analyzed different parenting traits/practices such as showing affection and communication with the children, behavioral control, psychological control, promotion of autonomy, humor, disclosure, inductive discipline, punishment, response cost and supervision and categorized the participants as non involved or being the aggressors or victims of cyber bullying. The result shows that for cyber aggressors (children showing cyber bullying behavior) parenting strategies such as inductive discipline, affection, communication and promotion of autonomy by the father and mother can help to reduce such behavior, while a lack of supervision, communication, punishment and discipline by the parents can increase the risks of such behavior.
The authors also pointed out those ineffective parenting skills also increases the likelihood of students becoming victims of cyber bullying and a lack of proper communication with parents further prevents and complicates its disclosure process. Such findings clearly show how parenting skills are an important decisive factor on the development or aversion of cyber bullying behavior among the children. Good relationship between a child and their parents helps to foster good communication and support and helps to incorporate positive values among them (Kokkinos et al., 2016). A parent thus helps to guide the child towards the development of the good behaviors while helping the child to identify and avoid behavior that can be detrimental to their own as well as other’s wellbeing (Martínez et al., 2018). According to McCoy et al. (2018) the relationships also plays an important part in the psychological and cognitive development of the child, and a healthy parent child relation can be a protective factor against various behavioral problems such as aggression and antisocial behaviors.
Cassidy et al. (2018) also supported that parental supervision of the computer usage among their children can significantly help to reduce the propensity of cyber bullying behavior among them. The authors suggested that the parents need to be more involved in the supervision of their children and help to make the children feel more comfortable to disclose any incident of cyber bullying behavior against them. It is important therefore for a good communication to exist between the child and his/her parents which can help in the disclosure of any incident and help to promote preventative or intervention strategies to stop it and prevent its further occurrence (Legate et al., 2018). Since the children spends most of their time at home, effective parenting skills is vital to develop a positive culture that is based on the values of respect, empathy and helpfulness towards others and promote a sense of kindness in the children (Zurcher et al., 2018).
The authors further identified some of the key approaches that can be taken be the parents to prevent cyber bullying behavior among their children such as educational approach (teaching the children about cyber bullying, cyber kindness and the importance of online privacy and the adverse impact of cyber bullying),role model approach (showing the desirable behaviors that the children can follow), building relations approach (by helping to create a king and supporting home environment, developing a close relation with the child and taking interest in the life of the child), using technologies (to monitor computer access and usage, limit time spent online and also restricting access whenever required) and punishment approach (Cassidy et al., 2018). Importance of such parenting strategies on the reduction of bullying as well as cyber bullying behavior among children have also been proposed by the studies of Martínez et al. (2018), Elsaesser et al. (2017) and Vazsonyi et al. (2017) that shows how active involvement of the parents in the cyber bullying preventative strategies can be useful to foster good behavior among the children and reduce negative behaviors such as bullying or aggression.
From the studies above it can be clearly concluded that effective parenting skills are necessary to promote healthy behavior among the children and avoid the development of aggressive or bullying behavior. Such changes can therefore prevent the incidence of cyber bullying perpetrated by these children. Good or a healthy relation between children with their parents not only helps to prevent bullying behaviors but also help to protect them from various mental and behavioral problems and therefore promote the long term health and wellbeing of the children. Additionally, parental supervision, guidance and monitoring can ensure that the children keeps on showing good behavior towards others and find out if their children have been involved in any activities involving cyber bullying, both as the aggressors or the victims. Punishments are also important reinforces of negative behaviors and can prevent the child from showing such behavior for the fear of a punishment.
Conclusion:
The study above clearly shows how bullying behaviors such as cyber bullying can be combated with both a school based as well as home based approaches for bullying intervention program. Within the schools, the prevention program can be incorporated in the curriculum which all the students would be required to undertake and effective policies be developed that can help the school authorities to act on time against any such incidents. At home, the parents can monitor and supervise the children on their behavior and prevent the onset of bullying behavior against others. Moreover, the parents as well as the teachers/educators can be involved in the development of a positive culture of respect and empathy in school and home and develop a healthy relation with the children that can foster good communication with them. Such factors can not only help to prevent incidents of cyber bullying but also help the children to disclose when such incidents occur against them or their friends. It can therefore be concluded that in order to effectively prevent bullying behavior among the school students it is vital that the preventative programs and intervention focuses on both the school as well as home as the environments where they need to be implemented to ensure a long term and continued efficacy of the program.
References:
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