7/25/2019 Understanding Cyber Bullying Notes for Digital Forensics Examiners

1/2

Understanding Cyber Bullying Notes for DigitalForensics Examiners

The phenomenon of cyber bullying has received a signicant amount ofattention in the last decade and literature in this eld has grownexponentially with advice and guidance on how to deal with cyberbullying. Yet the term cyber bullying did not exist in the publicsconsciousness a decade ago and the advice on how to deal with such anintractable problem which is omnipresent and pervasive in its nature hasbeen plentiful. Hinduja & atchin !"##$% described cyber bullying as anunfortunate by'product of the joining of the emergence of electronictechnology as a means of communication( which is relatively still only inits infancy and adolescent aggression which is played out in the virtualworld for all to see).

The days where young people played safely out in the streets or in theirfront garden has long gone and been replaced by the virtual playground.The *new playground ta+es place in young peoples bedrooms and ontheir ,martphones which has unlimited boundaries( is both secret andpublic and without constraints on how to behave towards each other. Thecloa+ of anonymity in which young people can act a-ords users a sense ofbravado that they would not necessarily feel if they acted in the same wayin the *real world. yber bullying( as opposed to *traditional forms ofbullying( reaches larger audiences in seconds and humiliates andemotionally impacts upon the victim for far longer. /espite the sad casesof young people ta+ing their own lives due to incidences of cyber bullying(

it is still carried out with little thought given to the victims well'beingwhich impacts upon their mental health leading to feelings of low self'esteem( depression and a sense of isolation.

0hilst bullying has been seen as a normal part of growing up( cyberbullying and traditional forms of bullying leave scars which can neverheal( and as young people are multi'platform users( the methods ofbullying and the di-erent technological devices available increase the wayin which bullying can ta+e place. 1ne site which has received a lot ofnegative press has been 2s+.fm. 0hen 3 as+ed a student who was being

bullied via this form of communication( why she opted to have messagesposted anonymously !users have the option to +now who the messagesare from%( she responded by saying( 3 would rather be *in it than out) ofit as that way 3 +now if they are writing about me( 3 am accepted). Thisgives an insight in to how young people have a s+ewed impression of whatfriendships and relationships are about( and may not be as emotionallysound as we are led to believe.

The term *digital native( digital immigrant has been accredited to 4arcrens+y( an educational consultant( who inferred that young people whowere born in the 56$#s onwards( were native spea+ers) of the digital

language of the world in which they were born. rens+y further impliedthat the older generation of digital immigrants( however( were adept at

7/25/2019 Understanding Cyber Bullying Notes for Digital Forensics Examiners

2/2

learning and often surpassing this use( and embracing all aspects oftechnology. The older generation however are more e7uipped emotionallyto deal with any issues they may encounter( whereas the youngergeneration have not yet developed the s+ills to deal with lifes problems(and as /inah 8oyd !"#59%( stated( the term digital natives) is fraught

with unintended conse7uences. The term inaccurately portrays youngpeople as being prepared for the digital era( thus absolving ourresponsibilities in helping young people develop the necessary s+ills toengage critically and rationalise everything they encounter online.

2s their existence in cyber space increases and attracts negativeattention( young people appear to be oblivious to the conse7uences ofany inappropriate behaviour and ignore any warnings about negative use.0hilst there are laws pertinent to acts of bullying online( such asharassment( stal+ing( ma+ing o-ensive remar+s( or any acts of indecencyvia all forms of electronic communication( there appears to be a grey areain which acts of bullying are viewed online. 8ullying is bullying whether itta+es place in the real world or online and the perpetrator should be heldaccountable for their actions and dealt with in accordance with the law.The issue of prosecuting young people who participate in acts of cyberbullying is an intractable one( as whilst criminalising young people is notnecessarily the answer( behaviour that would be deemed unacceptable inthe real world is no di-erent when carried out online in the virtual world.2s so few cases of cyber bullying are prosecuted( it is di:cult to see howthe culture of such acts will change as no examples are being setregarding the type of behaviour online that is unacceptable in society.

The number of social media platforms in which young people engage andlive their lives( inevitably exposes them to ris+s that are li+ely to causethem harm or get them into trouble. 2s cyber space expands andcontinues to grow( responsibility not only lies with professionals andeducators in delivering programs aimed at educating *safe use of socialmedia platforms( but also with parents +nowing the current trends intechnology. 3t cannot be assumed that parents automatically understandthe dynamics of cyber bullying; it is all too simplistic to respond by tellingvictims of bullying to remove themselves from the source of bullying. 2nunderstanding of why cyber bullying ta+es place and ways to prevent it

are e7ually as important as training and awareness programs.These should re?@ A httpsABBarticles.forensicfocus.comB"#59B#$B#9Bunderstanding'cyber'

bullying'notes'for'digital'forensics'examinersB

https://articles.forensicfocus.com/2014/08/04/understanding-cyber-bullying-notes-for-digital-forensics-examiners/https://articles.forensicfocus.com/2014/08/04/understanding-cyber-bullying-notes-for-digital-forensics-examiners/https://articles.forensicfocus.com/2014/08/04/understanding-cyber-bullying-notes-for-digital-forensics-examiners/https://articles.forensicfocus.com/2014/08/04/understanding-cyber-bullying-notes-for-digital-forensics-examiners/