Students speak out on cyber bullying

More than 200 Western Australian secondary school students will help shape the future of cyberspace today, as part of a world-first study into cyber bullying.

Education Minister Dr Liz Constable said the Cyber Friendly Student Summit was part of a $400,000 study into cyber bullying prevention funded by the State Government and conducted by the Child Health Promotion Research Centre (CHPRC) at Edith Cowan University.

Cyber bullying is the use of mobile phones or the internet to send abusive or degrading messages, photographs or videos.

“Cyber bullying is a global phenomenon and is not isolated to particular students or schools,” Dr Constable said.

“Because it’s often anonymous, and cyberspace is unregulated and active 24-hours a day, cyber bullying is particularly difficult to manage.

“Bullies can be anonymous and much nastier in cyberspace than they would beface-to-face.

“Add to that the permanency of what is posted online or forwarded via mobile phone text message, and you have a form of bullying that can be devastating for victims.”

The Minister said very little research had been undertaken into cyber bullying, how to address it and how to prevent it occurring in the first place.

She said the Cyber Friendly Student Summit would give students the opportunity to express their views and be involved in a world-first study project that could change the future of cyber safety.

Data collected by CHPRC earlier this year from 2,400 students in 40 WA schools revealed some interesting trends.

“The data showed that students who were cyber bullied were 13 times more likely to be face-to-face bullied and nearly twice as likely to report poor school grades,” Dr Constable said.

“Students who cyber bullied were 18 times more likely to bully others face-to-face and more likely to think that cyber bullying was okay.

“The most popular forms of cyber bullying were sending prank calls to mobile phones, posting nasty comments on websites and sending nasty messages on the internet.”

Today’s summit, which has been timed to coincide with International Children’s Day, will culminate in a declaration from students stating what they believe needs to be done to improve cyber safety and reduce cyber bullying.

A parent seminar on cyber bullying prevention will also be held at the Perth Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, October 23, from 7pm to 9pm. More information and registration details are available at http://www.cyberfriendlystudentsummit.com or by telephoning 9370 6686.

Minister's office - 9222 9699