The Relationship between Cyberbullying and School Bullying

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Journal of Student Wellbeing

December 2007, Vol. 1(2), 15-33.

The Relationship between Cyberbullying

and School Bullying

Tanya Beran and Qing Li

University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Abstract

Many children are likely to experience aggression in their relationships with

schoolmates. With the advent of modern forms of communication, children are

now able to harass their peers with mobile phones and e-mails, a behaviour

known as cyberbullying. To determine the relationship between school bullying

and cyberbullying, 432 students from grades 7–9 in Canadian schools were

surveyed about their experiences of bullying. The results indicated that students

who were bullied in cyberspace were also likely to bully their peers in cyberspace

(r = 0.46, p < 0.001) and be bullied at school (56%). In addition, students who

were bullied in cyberspace only, and students bullied both in cyberspace and at

school, experienced difficulties at school such as low marks, poor concentration,

and absenteeism. These results suggest that bullying that occurs either at or

outside school can have an impact on school learning.

The Relationship Between Cyberbullying and School Bullying

School bullying became the focus of research in the 1970s; however, a new form of

bullying known as cyberbullying (or cyber-harassment) is now becoming known in the

21st century (Beran & Li, 2005). Rather than bully a peer only at school, students are

beginning to use technology such as home computers and mobile phones to bully their

peers. Few studies on cyberbullying have been published, and its similarity to school

bullying is unknown. This study examines whether students involved in school bullying

are also involved in cyberbullying, and if these types of bullying are related to academic

difficulties at school.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND SCHOOL BULLYING

Related Literature

School and cyberbullying

Bullying has traditionally been considered to be a school problem. It usually occurs

before an audience of peers and on the school playground (Craig & Pepler, 1997;

Olweus, 1993). Although bullying has traditionally been equated with physical

harassment, researchers now consider bullying to be exposure, repeatedly and over time,

to negative actions on the part of one or more students (Olweus, 2003). These negative

actions are considered intentional, whereby individuals inflict or attempt to inflict, injury

or discomfort upon someone else (Olweus, 2003). Bullying takes a wide range of forms

including hitting, pushing, holding, hostile gesturing, threatening, humiliating,

degrading, teasing, name-calling, put-downs, sarcasm, taunting, staring, sticking out the

tongue, eye rolling, silent treatment, manipulating friendship and ostracising (Beran,

2006; Ma, 2001).

A new method of bullying has emerged, known as cyberbullying. This form of

aggression involves the use of information and communication technology such as

mobile phones, video cameras, e-mails, and web pages to post or send harassing or

embarrassing messages to another person (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004). Different types of

cyberbullying have been reported ranging from flaming to cyberstalking. There are

seven different categories of common cyberbullying (Willard, 2004):

Flaming: Sending angry, rude, vulgar messages about a person to an online group or to that person via email or other text messaging.

Online harassment: Repeatedly sending offensive messages via email or other text messaging to a person.

Cyberstalking: Online harassment that includes threats of harm or is excessively intimidating.

Denigration (put-downs): Sending harmful, untrue, or cruel statements about a person to other people or posting such material online.

Masquerade: Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material that makes that person look bad.

Outing: Sending or posting material about a person that contains sensitive, private, or embarrassing information, including forwarding private messages or images.

Exclusion: Cruelly excluding someone from an online group.

(Cyberbullying Survey Section, ¶8)

For example, a 15 year-old boy in Quebec, Canada became an unwilling

‘celebrity when a film he made of himself emulating a Star Wars fight scene was posted

on the internet by some classmates. Millions downloaded the two-minute clip … He was

so humiliated he sought counselling [and dropped out of school], and his family has

launched a lawsuit against his tormentors’ (Snider & Borel, 2004). In Japan, mobile

phone pictures of an overweight boy, which were taken in the locker room, were

TANYA BERAN AND QING LI

distributed to many of his peers (Paulson, 2003). Internet use alone has been increasing

by 100% per year (Nua Internet Surveys, 2002). In schools, 98% of elementary and 99%

of secondary students in Canada have computers with internet connections (Statistics

Canada, 2004). Given that about 60% of these students can access the internet outside

class time (Statistics Canada, 2004), it is possible that a portion of the time spent on the

internet is used to send harassing messages. Thus, in addition to enhancing student

learning and interactions with peers, technology may be used to target and victimise

peers.

Studies indicate that 14% to 27% of students experience school bullying (Fekkes

et al., 2005; Whitney & Smith, 1993). Preliminary studies suggest that cyberbullying

occurs at a similar rate. In a survey of students in grades 7–9, we found that about one

quarter of students reported being bullied through the use of technology (Beran & Li,

2005). Also, in Canada, survey results show that one quarter of young Canadian internet

users received messages expressing hate for others (Mnet, 2001). Similarly, in Britain,

25% of adolescents between 11 and 19 years-of-age reported being cyberbullied

(National Children’s Home, 2002). Further, the 2004 i-SAFE survey of 1500 grade 4–8

students in the USA (i-SAFE, 2004) and a study conducted by Kennedy in the UK

(Kennedy, 2005) showed the same trend. Considering that student use of technology is

often unsupervised, fewer consequences may result from bullying peers by using

technology than when at school.

Rather than consider cyberbullying as a separate phenomenon we propose that it

has become another form of bullying. Bullying behaviours may be directed at a target

(e.g., hitting, kicking, name calling, swearing) or involve the peer group to indirectly

target another student (e.g., gossiping, excluding) (Bjorkqvist, Lagerspetz, &

Kaukiainen, 1992). Cyberbullying is another indirect form whereby the aggressor does

not harass in a face-to-face interaction, but rather through an interface (computer screen,

phone). Just as school bullying behaviours are likely to be witnessed by peers, harassing

messages posted on-line are in a public domain and can be viewed by acquaintances and

strangers. For these reasons, it seems likely that bullying at school is related to bullying

on-line. Indeed, according to ecological systems theory, peers play a role in maintaining

and exacerbating bullying. By extension, the public audience in cyberspace may serve

the same role as schoolyard bystanders.

The link between school bullying and cyberbullying can be conceptualised using

social rank theory. This theory posits that the peer group becomes established as a

hierarchy whereby some students use aggression to dominate their peers as a means of

gaining prestige, power, and access to resources (Espelage & Swearer, 2003; Pellegrini

& Long, 2002). When peers submit to these dominant initiations by crying or feeling

intimidated, power and control are exerted over them, which may be maintained over the

long term (Sharp, Thompson, & Arora, 2000). Consequently, a child who submits to

attacks at school may be at risk of experiencing additional bullying in cyberspace, which

can persist over time and in settings outside the school. It is also possible that children

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND SCHOOL BULLYING

who are bullied at school may attempt to retaliate through technology. This form of

bullying may be less anxiety-provoking than face-to-face attacks, so victimised children

may resort to this behaviour as a means of self-protection. Indeed, they may engage in

bullying particularly if they are severely affected by it.

To more precisely describe children’s involvement in bullying at school and via

technology we can examine their behaviours. Previous research indicates that children

who are bullied are also likely to bully others. In a review of the research on bullying at

school, Espelage and Swearer (2003) challenged the perception that children can be

dichotomously classified as either bullies or victims. They argued that children may

bully their peers, and at other times also be bullied by their peers. In its most extreme

form, being bullied can lead to homicide. Vossekuil and colleagues (Vossekuil et al.,

2002) reported that 71% of students who shot their schoolmates had been bullied. It is,

therefore, possible that children who are bullied in cyberspace may also bully others in

cyberspace. Moreover, children who are bullied at school are also likely to be bullied on-

line.

Effects of bullying

Previous research has shown that children who are bullied at school suffer several

maladaptive outcomes. Internalising problems include anxiety, loneliness, sadness, over-

compliance, and insecurity (Frost, 1991; Hawker & Boulton, 2000; Olweus, 1989). In

addition to these internalising behaviours, children who are bullied may display

externalising problems such as impulsiveness and hyperactivity (Camodeca et al., 2003;

Johnson et al., 2002). Some school problems have also been reported, but there are few

studies on them. Reid (1985) reported that victimised children are likely to avoid school,

resulting in absenteeism, and Mellor (1990) indicated poor concentration on schoolwork.

These behaviours may explain reports of lower intelligence and academic achievement

(Roland, 1987).

Some emerging studies on cyberbullying suggest that children who are targeted

by it display similar negative behaviours. Some published research provides anecdotal

insights into children’s experiences (e.g., Keith & Martin, 2005). Some preliminary

studies have also documented various behaviours related to cyberbullying including

frustration, anger, and sadness (Beran & Li, 2005; Patchin & Hinduja, 2006). Indeed,

Patchin and Hinduja (2006) reported that about a third of the children who had been

cyberbullied felt they were negatively affected in some way. Also, in a national sample

of American youth aged 10–17 years, 30% reported feeling extremely upset and 24%

frightened as a result of receiving harassing on-line messages (Finkelhor et al., 2000).

Moreover, Ybarra (2004) found that frequent internet users were likely to experience

depressive symptoms. Further information about the ways in which children in Canada

are affected by cyberbullying is needed, and it is not known if students who experience

cyberbullying have similar problems to students who are bullied at school.

TANYA BERAN AND QING LI

Although many teachers and administrators now recognise the problem of cyber

bullying, they may not be aware of individual incidents, just as parents are not always

aware of their children’s activities on-line (Media Awareness Network, 2001). However,

school districts have begun including cyber-harassment in school policy (e.g., Ontario

Public School Boards’ Association, 2007). To inform policy, researchers must examine

systematically the nature of cyberbullying. Bullying occurs through electronic

communication, yet it is unclear how it works among peers. As bullying becomes

recognised as an important problem, researchers must uncover information about its

occurrence to inform and support educators and parents. That children who are bullied

may form supportive relationships with people over the internet who may encourage

them to retaliate with aggression towards their aggressors, suggests that school bullying

may be related to the use of technology (Markward et al., 2002). Moreover,

cyberbullying may be of particular concern if educators and parents are less conversant

with technology than students themselves. Thus, researchers, parents, teachers,

administrators and students must gain a better understanding of cyberbullying to ensure

safe and appropriate applications for technology. This study will extend our

understanding of cyberbullying by examining its relationship with school bullying

among adolescents. In particular, we asked the following questions:

1. To what extent are bullying others in cyberspace and being bullied in

cyberspace related?

2. Are students who are bullied at school likely to be bullied in cyberspace?

3. Are students who experience both forms of bullying (cyberbullying and

school bullying) as likely to have difficulty functioning at school as students

who experience cyberbullying only?

Method

Data for this sample were collected as part of a larger study (Beran & Li, 2005).

Administrators from nine junior high schools in middle class, ethnically diverse

communities in Calgary were contacted and gave permission for the research.

Participants included 432 students (193 boys and 239 girls) in grades 7–9 (ages 12–15)

who completed a self-report survey. Only those adolescents with signed parental consent

were permitted to participate. A research assistant gave questionnaires to students in

class and told them that they were not obliged to complete the questionnaire and not to

state their names to ensure anonymity. Approximately 15 minutes was required to

complete the questionnaire.

Measures

To determine whether students experienced cyberbullying they were first read the

standard definition of bullying developed by Olweus (1996) that is frequently used in

research:

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND SCHOOL BULLYING

Harassment occurs when a student, or several students, says mean and hurtful things or makes fun of another student or calls him or her mean and hurtful names, completely ignores or excludes him or her from their group of friends or leaves him or her out of things on purpose, tells lies or spreads false rumors about him or her, sends mean notes and tries to make other students dislike him or her, and other hurtful things like that. When we talk about harassment, these things happen repeatedly, and it is difficult for the student being harassed to defend himself or herself. We also call it harassment, when a student is teased repeatedly in a mean and hurtful way. But we don’t call it harassment when the teasing is done in a friendly and playful way. Also, it is not harassment when two students of about equal strength or power argue or fight.

Then they were asked, ‘Have harassing behaviours involving technology been

directed towards you?’ To determine the relationship between cyberbullying and school

bullying, students were asked ‘Do the people who harassed you by using technology also

harass you in other ways (not using technology)?’ Students were then asked: ‘Do you

use technology to harass others?’ Students responded to these three questions on a 5-

point response scale from ‘never’ to ‘almost every day’ with higher scores indicating a

higher frequency of bullying. See Appendix 1 for details of the survey. Self reported

experiences of bullying are often used in research and are considered to be a valid

method for determining the frequency of bullying (Espelage & Swearer, 2003).

To determine whether bullying is related to difficulties at school, students were

asked if they missed school, had difficulty concentrating, or if their marks dropped

because of bullying. Responses were indicated on the same 5-point response scale from

‘never’ to ‘almost every day’, and a higher score indicated more difficulty. This self-

reporting method has been used in other studies on bullying (e.g., Hawker & Boulton,

1996; Sharp, 1995; Sharp et al., 2000) and provides a glimpse into a child’s experience

of cyberbullying and its perceived effect.

Results

The number of students who had been involved in bullying was first examined. As

shown in Table 1, 182 students (42%) had never experienced cyberbullying, whereas

248 students (58%) had experienced it once or twice, or more often. Fewer students (n =

109, 26%) reported bullying others in cyberspace once or twice, or more often. Also,

more than a third of students (n = 159, 37%) reported being bullied both in cyberspace

and at school once or twice, or more often. To examine differences in reports of being

bullied and bullying others, responses to the three bullying questions were re-coded to

never, once/twice, or a few times or more. Chi-square results showed no significant

gender or grade differences.

TANYA BERAN AND QING LI

Table 1: Frequency of cyberbullying and school bullying (n = 432)

Frequency of each response

Never Once/twice Few

times

Many

times

Almost

every day

Total*

Bullied in cyberspace 182 148 81 15 4 430

Bullied others in

cyberspace

318 94 6 6 3 427

Bullied in cyberspace

and at school

268 92 32 24 11 427

Note. *The totals do not add up to 432 due to missing values.

To explore the relationships among the various experiences of bullying, Spearman’s rho coefficients for ordinal data were calculated using the original 5- point response scale. As shown in Table 2, students who were bullied in cyberspace were also likely to bully others in cyberspace and be bullied at school. Also, children who were bullied both in cyberspace and at school were likely to bully others in cyberspace.

Table 2: Spearman’s rho for the relationship between experiences of bullying and

school functioning (n = 432)

Measures Bullied in

cyberspace

Bullied

others in

cyberspace

Bullied in

cyberspace

and at

school

Missed

school

Marks

dropped

Poor

concentration

Bullied in

cyberspace

Bullied others

in cyberspace

0.46* --

Bullied in

cyberspace

and at school

0.52* 0.32* --

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND SCHOOL BULLYING

Missed school 0.17* 0.08 0.20* --

Marks

dropped

0.22* 0.07 0.20* 0.46* --

Poor

concentration

0.43* 0.18* 0.37* 0.28* 0.48* --

*p < 0.001

Table 2 also shows how cyberbullying is related to school functioning. Students

who were cyberbullied were likely to miss school, obtain low marks, and have poor

concentration. These difficulties were also reported by students who experienced both

cyberbullying and school bullying. Moreover, schooling problems are moderately

correlated—students who had difficulty concentrating also gained low marks and were

more likely to skip school. For those students who admitted bullying others in

cyberspace, no difficulties at school other than poor concentration were reported. It was

not possible to re-code responses to determine gender or grade differences, as cell sizes

were too small.

Discussion

Technology is intended to create rich learning environments and introduce children to

new ideas, develop new skills, and expand their perspectives (Bailey & Cotlar, 1994).

Many parents may also buy their children mobile phones to help ensure their safety.

However, technology when used to harass someone, can inflict harm and reduce school

functioning for some children. Indeed, more than half of the students in our sample had

experienced some cyberbullying, and more than a quarter of students reported bullying

others in cyberspace at least once. Also, more than a third had been bullied both in

cyberspace and at school. These forms of bullying are interrelated—children who were

bullied in cyberspace were also likely to bully others in cyberspace and be bullied at

school. Moreover, children who were bullied in cyberspace, as well as children bullied

both in cyberspace and at school, were likely to function poorly at school. To a lesser

extent, children who engaged in cyberbullying had difficulty with school work.

Students who are bullied through technology are likely to use technology to bully

others. It is possible that children who are bullied retaliate against the aggressor by

returning angry statements (flames) and sending harassing messages. It is also plausible,

however, that children known to have harassed others using technology are targeted by

other children to get even to protect their friends. Each incident may then fuel further

assaults by students directly involved, as well by their peers. When people feel angry for

being wrongfully attacked they may respond aggressively (Geen, 1998). Another

explanation for retaliation against bullying is that the retaliation may serve to protect the

TANYA BERAN AND QING LI

targeted student from feelings of embarrassment, sadness and powerlessness (Beattie,

2005). In other words, a child who is bullied may ‘bully back’ to counteract negative

emotions about having been bullied.

Considering that more than a third of the children in our sample who were bullied

in cyberspace were also bullied at school, it is possible that bullying moves between the

school grounds and cyberspace. For example, a student may be targeted at school and

then later that day sent harassing messages at his or her home. Then, they may be further

harassed at school the following day. Given that our results also show that students

bullied at school and via technology are likely to bully others in cyberspace, incidents of

bullying may be complex. Perhaps a student who had been bullied at school comes to

see bullying as a means of fitting in with the peer group by following the group’s social

rules, and will, therefore, begin to bully others in cyberspace. As a result, this person

may be subsequently targeted by threatening messages left on her or his desk or mobile

phone. In other words, with the ready availability of technology, bullying may involve

many students at school, at home, and at almost any other time and place in a child’s life

where technology is accessible.

The frequency of students experiencing cyberbullying a few times or more often

is comparable to that of school bullying. In general, many reports of school bullying

show that about a quarter or less of students are bullied at least sometimes at school

(McEachern et al., 2005). Similarly, almost a quarter of the students in our sample stated

they had been bullied through the internet, e-mails, mobile phones, and so on at least a

few times. Most (34%) of the students in the sample were bullied only once or twice.

Similarly, of those students who engaged in cyberbullying, most stated that they did it

only once or twice. Perhaps when learning the capabilities of technology, students test

what they are able to do with it by engaging in aggressive behaviours. However, fear of

being caught may restrain them. It is also likely that students are reluctant to report more

frequent acts of being bullied and of bullying others for fear of having their use of

technology curtailed, despite reassurances of confidentiality for the research.

Students may engage in cyberbullying for several reasons: the source of the

bullying is difficult to detect as messages can be sent without personal identification; a

child who sends a harassing message has time to construct and carefully prepare the

message to maximise the harm it causes; in traditional school bullying it may be hard to

create hurtful messages during the day; and there may be little fear of physical or verbal

retaliation as it is difficult to identify the sender, and the victim and sender are usually

physically remote from each other.

Students who were bullied either in cyberspace or at school were likely to

report difficulties at school. They were less likely to attend school, could not concentrate

on their school work and gained lower marks than students who were not bullied. These

results are consistent with research showing a negative effect on students who are bullied

at school (Juvonen et al., 2000; Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996). Thus, regardless of the

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND SCHOOL BULLYING

form of bullying (school or technologically based), students are likely to be harmed.

Perhaps sadness and hurt feelings about the attack distract students from their work and

reduce their motivation to attend school, both resulting in low grades. The converse is

also possible. Difficulty with schoolwork may mean that students are ostracised by their

peers, making them targets for teasing, ridicule and bullying. Moreover, children who

engage in cyber-harassment may be preoccupied with thoughts of targeting their peers,

reducing concentration on schoolwork. These results underscore the significance of

cyberbullying.

The results of this study suggest a connection between school bullying and

cyberbullying. An important implication is that bullying is a multifaceted phenomenon

involving various behaviours at differing times, possibly involving many people.

Considering that the majority of bullying occurs before peer witnesses, their role in

maintaining or exacerbating bullying must also be considered to be a key component in

prevention and intervention programs. Cyberbullying intervention programs, therefore,

should be developed in conjunction with anti-bullying programs. This concurs with the

limited number of existing intervention strategies proposed (Trolley et al., 2006) in the

literature. These stress the importance of a holistic approach to address cyberbullying.

Further, it suggests that addressing cyberbullying in the schools requires collaborative

efforts among school officials, parents, and the broader society (Trolley et al., 2006).

Limitations of the study

Despite providing one of the first glimpses of the impact of cyberbullying on children in

Canadian schools, this study has limitations. Although the sample was randomly

selected, few students returned consent forms, meaning that the findings are difficult to

generalise. At the time the survey was conducted, few students had access to video

mobile phones. With the introduction of new technology, cyberbullying may increase;

this requires further investigation. In this survey, students were not asked how they were

bullied at school or whether they bullied others at school—this should be considered in

later research.

Recommendations for further research

Little research has focused on cyberbullying and intervention strategies have not yet

been evaluated. When considering the impact of cyberbullying, it is important to

examine whether this experience preceded socio-emotional behaviours, so that causality

can be taken into account. Student reports on cyberbullying are valid for understanding

the child’s perspective, and our results using this method are similar to other methods

used to study the effects of bullying. In addition, parents and teachers may be less aware

of cyberbullying than are children themselves. Nevertheless, additional reporting sources

can be included in future research to compare children’s and adults’ perspectives.

TANYA BERAN AND QING LI

Other areas for further study include using school measures such as attendance

records and grades to understand how children experience bullying. Also, direct and

indirect bullying should be compared separately with cyberbullying. Our exploration of

cyberbullying required qualitative methods to determine the nature and possible causes

of this new phenomenon. The sample in this study was limited to students in grades 7–9

in Canadian schools who were willing to participate and no grade differences were found

in reports of cyberbullying. It is suggested that the age range be expanded to include

younger and older students and that gender differences by simultaneously examined.

Given that many students who are bullied in cyberspace both bully others in

cyberspace and are bullied at school suggests that ‘bullying has gone digital’.

Researchers must examine all forms of bullying to develop a complete understanding of

how and why students harass their peers. This study’s findings lead to many questions

yet to be answered in the research. As we learn more about the direction, severity and

context of these behaviours, we will be able to develop and evaluate strategies to manage

it. At present, parents and educators must be aware that cyberbullying and school

bullying are harmful to children and may impede their learning at school.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND SCHOOL BULLYING

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBERBULLYING AND SCHOOL BULLYING

Appendix

Student Survey

Thank you for participating in this survey.

School ____________________________________ Grade _______ Gender _____

Harassment occurs when a student, or several students, says mean and hurtful things or

makes fun of another student or calls him or her mean and hurtful names, completely

ignores or excludes him or her from their group of friends or leaves him or her out of

things on purpose, tells lies or spreads false rumors about him or her, sends mean notes

and tries to make other students dislike him or her, and other hurtful things like that.

When we talk about harassment, these things happen repeatedly, and it is difficult for the

student being harassed to defend himself or herself. We also call it harassment, when a

student is teased repeatedly in a mean and hurtful way. But we don’t call it harassment

when the teasing is done in a friendly and playful way. Also, it is not harassment when

two students of about equal strength or power argue or fight.

1) Have you heard of students using technology to harass other students (for

example, the Internet, computers, cell phones, answering machines, video

cameras)? If yes, what types of technology were used?

_________________________________________________________________

2) If yes, how was the technology used? Please describe the event.

_________________________________________________________________

3) Have these types of harassing behaviors involving technology been directed

towards you? Please indicate:

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