Cyberbullying and harassment at school

What would you do if you learnt that your child was being bullied at school or on social networks? According to the 2007 Kandersteg Declaration Against Bullying in Children and Youth, 200 million children and youth are being bullied around the world. It is said that 1 in 10 kids have been cyber-bullied. That is why policies to prevent harassment at school, by text or through social media are a high priority for governments around the world.

Most of the time harassment is difficult to detect because victims try to hide their suffering. Harassment also exists under different forms. In general harassment is any verbal, physical or aggressive behavior by a pupil or a group of pupils against another child. These facts are also repeated several times. Typically, the bully has more power than the victim. He or she is usually bigger, taller or has a strong influence over the other pupils or students. Bullying can appear in many different forms such as cyberbullying, sexual harassment, physical violence, demanding money or spreading rumors. If bullying is not recognized early enough, it can have serious effects on the victim. The consequences go from skipping school to anxiety and depression. These are extremely difficult to recover from. That is why the faster harassment is detected, the better. Sometimes consequences are more serious.

Suicide of Amanda Todd

Amanda Todd committed suicide at her home at the age of 15 years old. Before her death, she posted a video on Youtube recounting her experience of bullying with a series of flash cards. Amanda related that she had developed depression and suffered from anxiety attacks.

Her pain began when somebody convinced her to bare her breasts on camera on a video chat. This stranger then blackmailed her with threats of diffusing her topless photo unless she gave a show, which she did. Despite this, the topless photo was nevertheless diffused. This quickly damaged her reputation and she lost her friends. Even after her family moved house, the bullying continued, not only by the original bullies but also at her new school . She gradually fell into depression, drugs and alcohol. Amanda’s ordeal continued with insults, acts of violence and a fierce obstinacy against her. She attempted suicide many times. Todd was found dead on October 10, 2012.

Policies and laws against bullying

Until recently, bullying behavior was recognized as harassment, assault, a hate crime or stalking in the US. It is now designed by specific statutes in some states. However harassment is not recognized in the same way in each state. Indeed through laws and policies, each state tackles bullying differently.

Even plans to fight harassment at school in the UK exist, bullying is often considered as part of daily life. According to a report from MPs, the government has no sustainable plan to tackle sexual harassment. There is no centralized data collection of sexual harassment in order to collect accusations and complaints. The report revealed also that many schools were failing to detect and report incidents seriously.

Thibault Marraud.

#Life