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In your face(book): Cyberbullying common

Sometimes it's threats, such as "You'd better watch your back."

Often it's name calling. The "B" word is common.

"I would say a case comes up easily two to three times a week," said Janesville police officer Ken Olin, the resource officer at Marshall Middle School.

The threats and hurtful words are posted on Facebook or Myspace or sent in cell phone text messages.

It's called cyberbullying, and it's commonplace and not just in Janesville.

Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, said he heard from a high school student whose classmates posted lewd photos and comments about her sexuality on her MySpace page. She deleted her MySpace page, and the next day one of the perpetrators punched her in the face at school, Cullen said.

The perpetrator was punished for hitting the girl, but the principal said nothing could be done about the cyberbullying, Cullen was told.

The girl declined to be interviewed for this story.

Teens at risk

Justin W. Patchin, an associate professor of criminal justice at UW-Eau Claire, is co-director of the school's Cyberbullying Research Center. He said national studies have shown about 10 percent of teens have been cyber-bullied in the past 30 days.

Up to 25 percent of students will be cyber-bullied during their lifetimes, said Patchin, who has been studying the problem for the past decade.

Patchin worked with Cullen on a bill that would address cyberbullying, especially in schools.

Cyber power

Bullying of schoolmates has gone on for as long as schools have existed, of course, but the power of electronic media can amplify a hurtful message. Social media are a powerful way to connect friends or mobilize people to take political action and also have the power to hurt in a new way, experts say.

Patchin pointed out that the victims of pre-digital bullying could go home and be safe from attack until they returned to school the next day. Today, the assaults can arrive via text message or Internet any time, hitting the victim in his own bedroom.

"It's easier to reach targets and more difficult for targets to escape," Patchin said.

And the malevolent message can spread faster than ever before.

Students can't even find refuge by transferring to a different school because an old videos or Facebook posts can be found by classmates at the new school, Patchin said.

"You can't escape it," Patchin said. "It follows them wherever they go, so the emotional and psychological impact can be much greater."

New frontier

Patchin said research has not yet shown that cyberbullying is increasing, but longitudinal studies have not been conducted, and the phenomenon is still relatively new.

MySpace and Facebook launched in 2003 and 2004, respectively, and it took time until they became commonly used by teens.

Olin said he's seen an increase since he began working in schools in 1998. Fewer students carried cell phones back then, he noted.

"It does tie up a lot of time because even though it happens outside of school, it does cause issues in school," Olin said.

Cyberbullying, like other kinds of bullying, can reduce self esteem, lower academic performance, lead to misbehavior and increase thoughts of suicide, Patchin said.

"Some kids don't want come to school because they don't want to face something that was said online," Olin said.

And kids of this generation have little hope that something hurtful will not spread very quickly to a lot of their peers.

Harassing from home

Case law has established that schools can discipline students for things they do off school grounds if that behavior affects students at school, but not all principals understand that, Patchin said.

Cullen's proposal would require the state to develop a model school policy that would include, in part, a statement that bullying incidents that occur off school grounds are subject to investigation and sanctions if such incidents create problems at school.

Schools would not be required to adopt the model policy, although many districts use the model school policies as the basis of their school policies, Cullen notes.

Patchin said the bill doesn't give educators more power to address cyberbullying, but it clarifies the issue for school officials.

"It gives educators more confidence in doing this," Patchin said. "A lot of administrators are afraid to get involved because think they don't have authority."

More work for schools

The model policy would require school districts that adopt it to prepare an annual report, present the report to the school board and post it to the district's website.

Patchin said the added paperwork is a concern in a time of tight school budgets.

"I would hope that somewhere the Legislature would provide some additional resources to pull this off," Patchin said.

Schools either would need more staff time to follow those rules, or they would have to give up doing something they do now, he said.

Cullen noted that some districts already track bullying incidents, and his bill would only offer a model policy, not require a district to adopt it.

"I would expect them to want to do this because it's in the best interest of protecting the kids," Cullen said.

Bullying on the books

A 2010 bullying law introduced by Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, already requires the state to offer a model bullying policy and requires schools to adopt their own policies. It was a worthy effort, but cyberbullying is not mentioned, Cullen said.

Kedzie's proposal passed when Democrats controlled the lawmaking process. Now, the Republican hold sway.

Cullen said he doesn't see any reason partisanship should enter into the discussion, so he's hopeful for passage.

Cullen's bill also would tweak the criminal statute that covers harassment via computer or cell phone. The statute is not clear about messages posted on social media that are not sent directly to the victim. Cullen's bill would make sure the statute includes those kinds of communication.

Patchin is not a fan of criminalizing youthful cyberbullying.

"I don't think teens are deterred by a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail," Patchin said, referring to the maximum penalties for a Class B misdemeanor.

Local ordinances

Patchin likes the fact that Janesville and other municipalities have ordinances that allow police to issue tickets for the same offense.

Olin said he uses the local ordinance to make a point with students without having to resort to the more severe state statute. The ordinance violation carries a forfeiture of $200 for juveniles, $389 for adults.

Milton is considering a similar ordinance after the school resource officer there asked for it.

Patchin believes the best way to address the problem is at the roots, in schools and in families.

Research has shown, for example, that teens are less likely to do something if they know their parents would find out.

Olin said parents often are surprised to find out their children have harassed someone online, but most will impose penalties, including loss of computer and cell phone privileges.

Other parents are proactive, Olin said. They have their children's passwords and monitor their online activities regularly.

Patchin said free-speech advocates might challenge bills such as Cullen's, as they have in other states, but it's clear that the Constitution does not protect threats and harassment, he said.

CYBERBULLING LEGISLATION

A cyberbullying bill soon to be introduced in the state Senate by Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, includes these provisions:

-- School districts must create a definition and prohibition of cyberbullying.

-- The state Department of Public Instruction must add to its model policy on bullying a requirement that school districts maintain records on the number and types of bullying reports made and the sanctions imposed.

The model school policy must require school districts to prepare an annual report, present the report to the school board and post it to the district’s website.

Districts are not required to adopt the model policy.

-- The model policy must include a statement that bullying incidents that occur off school grounds are subject to investigation and sanction if the bullying disrupts learning or otherwise creates problems at school.

-- The criminal statute on unlawful use of computerized communication would include messages posted on social media websites even if the messages are not sent directly to the victim.