As Cyberbullying Moral Panics Heat Up, Actual Rates Of Cyberbullying Decreasing

from the details,-details dept

Fri, Apr 9th 2010 12:15pm — Mike Masnick

If you hadn't noticed, there's been a growing moral panic around the concept of "cyberbullying", with various states passing laws against it and Congress even considering it as well. And, of course, if you read stories in the news these days, you might think that cyberbullying is happening everywhere and that It Must Be Stopped at all costs To Protect The Children.

However, as Larry Magid is pointing out, actual studies on the issue show that so-called "cyberbullying" is on the decline and most kids are good kids who are as disgusted with the concept as adults. In fact, some research suggests that all of the stories about this "cyberbullying" threat may actually make the problem worse. That's because kids are more likely to engage in the practice if they think it's common. And, even though it's not common today, all the press reports may spread the idea that it is. In the end, as Magid points out, as with other moral panics, the real solution tends to be parental education -- not misguided laws.

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Filed Under: cyberbullying, laws, moral panic

19 Comments

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Wobbly Wonk, 9 Apr 2010 @ 12:30pm

'Protect the children' and 'piracy is killing the music industry' logic will be the main weapon used by government officials to monitor and corporations to control the internet.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 12:48pm

Talking of cyberbullying, what about all those law firms extorting people about illegal downloads? Those are the REAL cyberbullies.

Which reminds me, it came to my attention that TBI has announced it will stop its racket: http://tinyurl.com/yd8p8ww
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jjmsan (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 1:12pm

Not the right link
"What the task force did find is that "bullying and harassment, most often by peers, are the most salient threats that minors face, both online and offline." Partially because researchers can't agree on a definition of bullying and harassment, the actual risk is hard to quantify"
Your link talks about the danger from sexual predators it does not suggest that cyberbullying is on the decline.
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 1:15pm

Moral Panics
If you watch the mainstream news and believed what they said you would think the world was coming to an end the way everything is so extremely bad these days. Although, you would have been thinking that for years now. Sensationalism sells the news because there are lots of people who just don't understand that what is being reported will never be the whole picture on TV. I cannot tell you how many times I have shot down coworkers thoughts about the evils of this or that. I also get sent chain letters bashing one group or another which a quick visit to snopes.com shows are completely wrong interpretations because they decided to play mix and match with quotes and pictures to make something look like "OMG LOOK AT THIS TRAVESTY!".
Ugh.
The idea of cyberbullying is kind of funny though. Not as an actual law mind you. But, any user could simply stop responding to, or block any given "cyber bully". Just amusing.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 1:16pm

... and if we report about robberies down at the Seven-Eleven, more people will go out and do the same. Yep, that sounds about right!

Could it be that the laws that are being enacted around the country might actually be partly responsible for the decrease in cyberbullying? While most kids are good kids, most adults are good adults -- but I'm not going to leave the keys in my car. However if they get left there by accident, it's still a crime to steal the car. Don't blame the victim (or the messenger) for someone who breaks the law or seeks to harm another.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 2:07pm

The point of these laws have nothing to do with preventing bullying, they have more to do with giving governments and corporations more control over the population.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Apr 2010 @ 3:34pm

TAM's mom
If I make comments about TAM's mom is that cyberbullying?
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Excuse me..., 9 Apr 2010 @ 3:35pm

Decrease in cyberbullying?
or decrease in reported cyberbullying, and incidents CLASSIFIED as such...
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Ouch, 9 Apr 2010 @ 7:37pm

Facebook hell
Didn’t you bully me by requesting to be my friend?! AAHHH!!
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2010 @ 8:49am

Meanwhile, no one cares that kids are being ACTUALLY bullied every day causing them to develop real emotional, psychological, and even physical scarring that will last their entire lives. But, that's not ratings-grabbing hot news capable of inciting a moral panic!
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Gene Cavanaugh, 10 Apr 2010 @ 7:11pm

Cyberbullying
Good article. Add to that: the best way to make something attractive to kids (and some of us older folks) is to outlaw it.
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Richard (profile), 10 Apr 2010 @ 11:39pm

Funnily, I got a letter from my local member today, talking about "cyber protection" and including topics like "cyber bullying". The statement that stuck with me the most was "Most often, cyber bullying is just another tool for the person who bullies face-to-face. However, it is becoming more common for those who are being bullied in the playground to retaliate online." From what I understand of that paragraph, that means that it is entirely possible that if your child is being bullied online, then they might be an ACTUAL bully at school.
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Tyanna, 12 Apr 2010 @ 11:41am

I can't say understand the idea of Cyber-bullying. As you choose how you interact with people online, you have to let the person bully you in a way....right?

If someone starts harassing, block them. It's not like in a playground setting where a child would be approached by a bully and couldn't get away.

Best way to stop cyber-bullying would be to teach kids how to block people they don't like...IE be more knowledgeable about the internet in general.

So perhaps better internet lessons should be given to kids instead of panicking about cyber-bullying.

Or perhaps I just don't fully understand the issue *shrugs*
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alyssa, 10 Feb 2011 @ 8:32am

ok well i am still a kid in school but we are learing about cyber bulling and i do NOT think this is right.. the people who are bulling are just using it fo attntion!.but think it is not making them look any cooler!.
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kevinanchi1 (profile), 4 Mar 2011 @ 12:01am

Thanks
Hey guys thanks for sharing the information, I have noticed that the cyber bullying rates have decreased now a days as people are getting more aware and mostly more mature about the technology and such type of bullying is diminishing, and also strict rules re made for the cyber law so this type of menace is in control, i guess in coming days internet will be good and in control as we can see down the line the evolution of the internet, it was a nice content to read thanks again for sharing, keep up the good work. patio umbrellas
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Mike Strong (profile), 17 Jul 2011 @ 9:05pm

Timely article
Cyber bulling is just a bullying with a different flavor. I think it is safe to say that bullies are always going to adapt to the times. Thanks for the article. Clickbank Launch Reviews
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Sam, 4 May 2012 @ 11:45am

Actually this is a real issue and it's not surprising it's turned into a moral panic. I got cyber bullied nearly every day when I was around the age of 13 and it destroyed my self-esteem. I know a lot of young people who have been through similar things or worse. Formspring.com is a very easy website for people to target their victims because it's all anonymous and many victims from that website have been known to commit suicide. I used to get bullied on MSN by bullies at school and other people who made false accounts to get to me. I also got bullied through text and through myspace/bebo. It's an issue that should definitely be looked into maybe more so than it already is.
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