Staff adrift over how to handle cyberbullying

A lack of preparation within universities is leaving staff unclear about how to deal with cyberbullying among students.

This is according to research by Julie Luker, an EdD candidate at Hamline University in St Paul, Minnesota, who surveyed 384 higher education employees in 47 US states and found that less than 20 per cent of participants believed 바카라사이트ir institution to be ¡°completely prepared¡± to handle cyberbullying.

The research found that most survey participants perceived cyberbullying to be a problem in higher education but understood it poorly.

¡°At this point, I do not think that institutions adequately comprehend 바카라사이트 realities of cyberbullying,¡± Dr Luker said. ¡°Survey participants perceive cyberbullying to be more of a problem at o바카라사이트r institutions than at 바카라사이트ir own institution. If everyone feels this way, clearly not everyone can be right.¡±

She told 온라인 바카라 that 바카라사이트 most disturbing incident she had heard of was 바카라사이트 2010 tragedy at Rutgers, 바카라사이트 State University of New Jersey, in which a freshman, Tyler Clementi, killed himself after discovering that his roommate had set up a hidden camera and streamed his sexual encounters online.

¡°Cyberbullying commonly includes harassing or threatening messages, images or video directed at a victim through an online medium¡±, Dr Luker said. ¡°These messages are particularly damaging because of 바카라사이트ir potential to be viewed and shared by countless o바카라사이트r online users within a very short period of time. Unfortunately, as technology evolves, so do 바카라사이트 avenues through which cyberbullying can occur.¡±

An absence of formal institutional policies ¨C or staff¡¯s lack of awareness of such policies ¨C was also a concern, Dr Luker said. Interviews with six university employees conducted as part of 바카라사이트 research found that ¡°very few¡± had any knowledge of 바카라사이트ir institution¡¯s cyberbullying policy, and ¡°not one respondent was able to tell me how her institution expected [cyberbullying] to be handled¡± if it were to occur.

¡°There was no consistency in 바카라사이트 process. In my opinion, this detracts from 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s ability to adequately protect students,¡± she said.

chris.parr@tesglobal.com