Sally M. Kift

Do cyberbullies suffer too? Cyberbullies’ perceptions of the harm they cause to others and to their own mental health

While it is recognized that there are serious sequelae for students who are victims of cyberbullying including depression, anxiety, lower self-esteem and social difficulties, there has been little research attention paid to the mental health of students who cyberbully. It is known that students who traditionally bully report they feel indifferent to their victims, showing a lack of empathy and that they themselves are at increased risk for psychosocial adjustment. However, there is scant research on the mental health associations for students who cyberbully or their awareness of their impact on others. The current study sought to ascertain from Australian students who reported cyberbullying others in school years 6 to 12 (10–19 years of age), their perceptions of their mental health and the harm they caused to and the impact their actions had, on their victims. Most students who cyberbullied did not think that their bullying was harsh or that they had an impact on their victims. They reported more social difficulties and higher scores on stress, depression and anxiety scales than those students who were not involved in any bullying. The implications of these findings for the mental health of the cyberbullies and for psychologists in schools who assist them, are discussed.

A TALE OF TWO SECTORS: DYNAMIC CURRICULUM CHANGE FOR A DYNAMICALLY CHANGING PROFESSION

Recent decades have witnessed dynamic change in the working environment of 21st century lawyers. While the practice of law has changed radically, it is not clear that legal education reform has kept pace with the demands of modern practice. In an environment where the tertiary sector has also been transformed by external drivers beyond its control, the QUT Law Faculty has undertaken a major reconceptualisation of its undergraduate law programs. Encouraged by the Australian Law Reform Commission’s 2000 exhortation to re-orientate legal education around “what lawyers need to be able to do‿, rather than remaining bound to the traditional focus of “what lawyers need to know‿, the Faculty embarked on curriculum renewal centred around the development and implementation of a graduate capability framework. The Faculty wished not only to address the generic issues of first year transition, it was also committed to providing a package of teaching and learning opportunities that combined substantive content, theoretical and practical knowledge with the development of certain generic (and some discipline specific) skills; all of this in a legal context to a basic level of competency for all students, regardless of the diversity of their prior background and experience. This paper will describe this particular pedagogical response to meeting the needs of the 21st century legal practitioner.

Students’ Perceptions of Their Own Victimization: A Youth Voice Perspective

This article investigates the perceptions of 156 students who were victims of both traditional and cyberbullying (117 female, 45 male), ages 10 to 17 years, as to which form of bullying was more hurtful. Overall, students perceived traditional victimization to be more hurtful than cyber victimization. Reasons identified in the data to explain the different perceptions of victims were categorized and found to relate to: the bully, the bystanders, the bullying incidents, the emotional impact on the victim, and the victim’s ability to respond. The perceptions of these students challenge a number of suppositions presented in the literature that attempt to explain why cyberbullying is associated with more negative outcomes than traditional bullying. The implications for antibullying programs to address these issues are discussed.

School policies on bullying and cyberbullying: perspectives across three Australian states

Abstract Background: Despite decades of research, bullying in all its forms is still a significant problem within schools in Australia, as it is internationally. Anti-bullying policies and guidelines are thought to be one strategy as part of a whole school approach to reduce bullying. However, although Australian schools are required to have these policies, their effectiveness is not clear. As policies and guidelines about bullying and cyberbullying are developed within education departments, this paper explores the perspectives of those who are involved in their construction. Purpose: This study examined the perspectives of professionals involved in policy construction, across three different Australian states. The aim was to determine how their relative jurisdictions define bullying and cyberbullying, the processes for developing policy, the bullying prevention and intervention recommendations given to schools and the content considered essential in current policies. Sample: Eleven key stakeholders from three Australian states with similar education systems were invited to participate. The sample selection criteria included professionals with experience and training in education, cyber-safety and the responsibility to contribute to or make decisions which inform policy in this area for schools in their state. Design and methods: Participants were interviewed about the definitions of bullying they used in their state policy frameworks; the extent to which cyberbullying was included; and the content they considered essential for schools to include in anti-bullying policies. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. Findings: Seven themes were identified in the data: (1) Definition of bullying and cyberbullying; (2) Existence of a policy template; (3) Policy location; (4) Adding cyberbullying; (5) Distinguishing between bullying and cyberbullying; (6) Effective policy; and (7) Policy as a prevention or intervention tool. The results were similar both across state boundaries and also across different disciplines. Conclusion: Analysis of the data suggested that, across the themes, there was some lack of information about bullying and cyberbullying. This limitation could affect the subsequent development, dissemination and sustainability of school anti-bullying policies, which have implications for the translation of research to inform better student outcomes.

A legal process or a justice system? Sex offences in Queensland - still seeking justice

Scott Volkers was arrested in a glare of media publicity in March 2002. In July 2002, he was committed for trial on seven charges of indecent dealing with children under 16. By September 2002, the prosecution case against him had been discontinued. Public interest in the case and disquiet about its handling prompted the Qld Crime and Misconduct Commission to conduct two separate inquiries into concerns about how sexual abuse is handled by the Qld criminal justice system. This article considers the broad implications of the issues raised by those inquiries, particularly from the point of view of the victims/survivors of sexual abuse.