Bibliografía Básica

In Year 7 17% (n=27) and in Year 8 15% (n=19) of participants had been cyberbullied in the past (see Figure 4.2).

110

Figure 4.2 Have you ever been cyberbullied? (Year 7 n=152; Year 8 n=126)

Figure 4.3 shows that 9.62% of Year 7s and 6.35% of Year 8s had been cyberbullied more than once in the past year; 5.26% of Year 7s and 4.76% of Year 8s had been cyberbullied once; and 3.85% of Year 7s and 3.97% of Year 8s had been cyberbullied in previous years, but not the current year.

Figure 4.3 How often have you been cyberbullied in the past year? (Year 7 n=23; Year 8 n=14)

18% 15% 82% 85% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Year 7 Year 8

Have you ever been cyberbullied?

Yes No 5.26% 7.89% 1.32% 0.66% 4.76% 4.76% 1.59% 0.00% 0.00% 1.00% 2.00% 3.00% 4.00% 5.00% 6.00% 7.00% 8.00% 9.00%

Once 2 - 4 times 5 - 10 times Continuously

How often have you been cyberbullied in the past year?

111 For those in Year 7 who had been cyberbullied in previous years this means they were cyberbullied in primary school (5 – 11 years of age). We asked if they were still being cyberbullied now: the majority said no (61% in Year 7; 69% in Year 8), but 36% of Year 7s and 25% of Year 8s said they were not sure (see Figure 4.4). The group felt that this indicated the uncertainty around cyberbullying, whether it had stopped and that it could resume at any time.

Figure 4.4 Are you still being cyberbullied now? (Year 7 n=28; Year 8 n=16)

Figure 4.5 (Year 7) and Figure 4.6 (Year 8) show the response to the question ‘how did you react to the cyberbullying?’ which addresses their first research question: How do victims respond to cyberbullying incidents?

3% 61% 36% 6% 69% 25% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Yes No Not sure

Are you still being cyberbullied now?

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Figure 4.5 How did you react to the cyberbullying? (Year 7 n=26)

Figure 4.6 How did you react to the cyberbullying? (Year 8 n=18)

The majority in both year groups changed their security settings or blocked the cyberbully. Over half of those cyberbullied sought help from friends, family or

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% I ignored it

I was angry/ annoyed I was unhappy I denied it was happening I did something else to take my mind off it I asked my friends to help I asked my family to help I asked a member of staff at school to help I changed my security settings I blocked the person cyberbullying me I closed my account I reported it to the provider

How did you react to the cyberbullying? (Year 7)

Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% I ignored it

I was angry/ annoyed I was unhappy I denied it was happening I did something else to take my mind off it I asked my friends to help I asked my family to help I asked a member of staff at school to help I changed my security settings I blocked the person cyberbullying me I closed my account I reported it to the provider

How did you react to the cyberbullying? (Year 8)

113 teachers. The YPAR group were very surprised at the number in Year 7 claiming to report their cyberbullying to the provider; this means reporting to Instagram,

SnapChat, etc. so that they investigate the cyberbullying and take action against the perpetrator. The high number concerned the group with regards to its accuracy and whether the Year 7 students had understood what it meant; not everyone in the YPAR group had been aware that they could report to a provider. In Year 8, the figure was more in line with their expectations. However, it is possible that education on e-safety has developed and younger students are more knowledgeable about the actions they can take.

Open response questions were used to gather data for the group’s second research question: How do people protect themselves and others from cyberbullying? (see Figure 4.7). The YPAR group assisted in coding the responses, adding categories as required. A number of the categories only contained one response and, for

presentational clarity, I have removed these from the graph; however, the complete data were discussed by the YPAR group. Notable is the high number of responses for using privacy settings, blocking cyberbullies and only accepting people they know.

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Figure 4.7 How do you protect yourself online? If you have been cyberbullied, did you change anything you normally do online? (Year 7 n=141; Year 8 n=108)

They were also asked how friends helped to protect each other in the event of cyberbullying. For both Year 7 and Year 8 33% did not respond to this question. Following the coding by the YPAR group, there were some categories containing only

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Privacy Settings Tell family Tell someone Tell adult Report them Block them Delete them Ignore them Password security Only accept people you know Appear offline Safeguard personal information Don't put bad stuff online/ cause arguments Add more friends to group (strength in numbers) Doesn't apply to me Don't know/ blank Change how I use sites Leave the game Don't go on sites Delete social media Retaliate Don't get involved in arguments online

How do you protect yourself online? If you have been

cyberbullied, did you change anything you normally do

online?

115 single responses which have been merged with other data or removed from Figure 4.8 for presentational clarity. In Figure 4.8 we can see a shift in how the cyberbullying is dealt with between the two year groups. Year 7 are more likely to seek adult support (18%), which would have been a successful approach in primary school, however, only 7% of Year 8 students suggest this approach. Instead, Year 8 students are more likely to support their friends to change their privacy settings and block the

cyberbully. Year 8s are also more likely to advocate ignoring the problem or to confront the cyberbully.

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Figure 4.8 How do you and your friends help protect each other from cyberbullying or help each other if you are cyberbullied? (Year 7 n=120; Year 8 n=90)

While this question was to some degree hypothetical, the group also included some questions for those who had experience of supporting their peers through

cyberbullying. The questionnaire asked, ‘Have you ever helped someone who was being bullied online?’: Year 7 responses indicated that 25% (n=39) had helped

someone; and Year 8 stated that 23% (n=29) had helped peers. They were then asked an open response question to state what they did to help them; some did not respond to this question, despite indicating that they had helped someone. Those who answered the question in Year 7 indicated that the most popular responses were to provide

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 20% Stick up for each other

Check on each other Cheer them up Develop confidence/ emotional support Tell friends Identify adult to help you Tell someone Advice on who to add Advice to ignore it Advice on privacy settings/ blocking Advice to stop using it General Advice Protect - general statement Avoid arguments Confront the bully General help - non specific Would not help/ Don't want to pick sides

How do you and your friends help protect each other

from cyberbullying or help each other if you are

cyberbullied?

117 advice on the privacy settings and how to block (n=11); to identify an adult to help (n=8); tell them it would be fine (n=8); or to confront the bully (n=7). In Year 8 there were only a small proportion who provided additional information, but the most popular response was to confront the bully (n=4). Other strategies were to develop their peer’s confidence or provide emotional support (n=2); tell them to ignore it (n=2); add friends online to support the cyber-victim (n=2); or report the

cyberbullying to someone (n=2). The YPAR group explained that the response to ‘add friends online’ is about developing strength in numbers against the cyberbully, hence the bully is confronted by a group rather than the victim alone. The YPAR group suggested that this could be an effective strategy to make a cyberbully retreat. The YPAR group also identified the shift from asking for adult support, to more self- or peer-reliance in Year 8.