The Impact of Training on Faculty and Student Perceptions of Cyberbullying in an Urban South Central Texas Middle School

Y

29

Bullying; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Computer Mediated Communication; Middle School Students; Middle School Teachers; Victims; Training; Urban Schools; Statistical Analysis; Online Surveys; Video Technology; Internet; Safety; Pretests Posttests; Program Effectiveness; Attitude Change; Grade 7; Grade 8; Grade 6; Comparative Analysis; Disclosure; Student Behavior; Intervention; Racial Differences; Gender Differences; Age Differences; Teacher Characteristics; Student Characteristics

1941-3432

Bullying has been around for decades; however, with the advancements of new emerging technology and devices, the ability for bullying to transcend into the cyber-world is becoming an international issue. Researchers have been intently studying the effects associated with cyberbullying to gain a better understanding of its perpetrators, victims, and bystanders in addition to legal issues and ways to counteract cyber-bullying. This study focused on determining whether cyber-bullying training for students at an urban south central Texas middle school is effective. The researchers utilized a quantitative research method to measure middle school students' perceptions of cyberbullying regarding a single intervention. Data was collected by the school district through the administration of an online student cyber-bullying survey prior to students viewing an "Internet Safety Basics" video, one week after viewing the video and six weeks after students viewed the video. Through analysis, only one area of students' perceptions with regard to the intervention was significant. This area focused on seventh grade students' perception on the effects of cyber-bullying. When students' and teachers' perceptions were compared for analysis, two areas were found to have significant difference: their perceptions of the effects of cyber-bullying and their perceptions of ways on how to positively report cyber-bullying. Results indicate the need for more cyber-bullying interventions or curriculum for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 and training for middle school teachers as literature supports cyber-bullying peaks at these grade levels.

As Provided

49

2015

EJ1056180