The reality of cyberbullying in higher education | Panna Karlinger | TEDxAberystwyth

TL;DR

Cyber bullying in higher education targets both students and teaching staff, impacting mental health and highlighting the need for support systems.

Transcript

when we think of cyber bullying we often imagine a child or a young adult getting upsetting frustrating bullying or often offensive um texts on their phone and we just ask why don't you just block them because we assume that these might be schoolmates or strangers they don't spend much time together anyway and so that's the easiest solution however... Read More

Key Insights

• 🧑‍⚕️ Cyber bullying types include flaming, stalking, and denigration, impacting mental health.
• ✋ Teaching staff in higher education are more likely to be cyber bullied by students.
• 🖤 Lack of awareness and support for cyber bullying exacerbates the issue.
• 🧑‍⚕️ Cyber bullying affects job satisfaction and mental health of teaching staff.
• 💁 Online feedback forms can be used to target teaching staff personally.
• 🧑‍🎓 Over 40,000 research papers focus on student-to-student bullying, but staff bullying is overlooked.
• 👊 Teaching staff may face criticism, emotional blackmail, or personal attacks in cyber bullying.

Questions & Answers

Q: What are the seven types of cyber bullying identified in current literature?

The seven types are flaming, online harassment, cyber stalking, denigration, masquerading, trickery, outing, and online exclusion.

Q: Why is cyber bullying in higher education more challenging than traditional bullying?

Cyber bullying in higher education involves dehumanizing factors of online spaces, anonymity, and increased levels of anxiety, making it harder to combat and more impactful on mental health.

Q: What are some examples of cyber bullying experienced by teaching staff in higher education?

Teaching staff have reported being called names, emotionally blackmailed for grades, criticized for responses, or even judged based on accents in emails or messages.

Q: Why is awareness and support crucial in combating cyber bullying in higher education?

Without awareness and support systems, the mental health impact of cyber bullying on teaching staff and students can be severe, affecting job satisfaction and overall well-being.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Cyber bullying in higher education affects both students and teaching staff.

• Teaching staff are three times more likely to be harassed online by students compared to student-to-student bullying.

• Lack of awareness, procedures, and support exacerbate the mental health impact of cyber bullying in higher education.