SABRINA JONES
Staff Writer
Bullying is not what it used to be. Back in the days of schoolyard taunting, there was the occasional rock-throwing extravaganza, and maybe a couple of cootie shots here and there for good measure.
But, on the whole, elementary school bullying was harmless.
It was only a decade ago when sandlot tyrants wrote nasty notes on construction paper and hurled them in elaborate paper airplanes to spread rumors.
Today, cyber bullies need only click their mouse and utilize a handful of keystrokes before creating defamation that can be seen, read, printed, copied and distributed to an innumerable audience.
With the worldwide popularity of Internet blogs and social networking sites, it is possible to find out intimate details about people that one might never meet face to face.
At this point, there is hardly a soul on Pepperdine’s campus who has not yet heard about the controversial Web site, JuicyCampus.com. And, while the mystique of the cyber-gossip site has clearly dwindled, the fact that the Web site was able to garner so many hits brings about more startling questions.
Juicy Campus was just an Internet medium for a bigger societal issue. Cyber-bullying is only a symptom of a larger issue.
One has to wonder what motivates 4,958 people to view an unsubstantiated post about who may or may not be harboring sexually transmitted diseases on campus.
In a recent student film, senior Ryan MacKenzie interviewed a handful of students around campus to understand their thoughts on the proliferation of gossip through Internet mediums.
“There are no laws against hate, only laws against actions,” MacKenzie said. “If you outlaw what people write, you have to outlaw what people say. It’s really a challenge to humanity, to people, to individuals you have to deal with.”
So, what compels an individual to generate such a list online as “Biggest Sluts of 2008?” What motivates people to use their time to put together a list called “biggest sluts … watch out, STD ridden whores?” Are people biologically predisposed to be bullies? Is there a potential “mean gene” that brings out the inner gossip in people?
Dr. Cindy Miller-Perrin, professor of psychology at Seaver College, and her husband and professor of sociology, Dr. Robin Perrin, have devoted much of their professional research to examining the nature and ramifications of child abuse.
A 2007 book compiling their findings, called “Child Maltreatment: An Introduction,” delves into issues such as child physical abuse, neglect, psychological maltreatment and child sexual abuse. In a section addressing “Additional Forms of Child Maltreatment,” however, a clear definition of “bullying” is provided.
In their book, the Perrins refer to the first definition of “bullying,” as established by Dan Olweus, a researcher at the forefront of studying the social phenomenon.
Olweus defines bullying as “a student being exposed, repeatedly over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more students [where a negative action as] when someone intentionally inflicts, or attempts to inflict, injury or discomfort upon another.”
In a 2001 study, research findings indicated that 17 percent of students reported to having been bullied “sometimes or more frequently during the school term.” Conversely, 19 percent of students admitted to bullying others within the same time span.
Among the top kinds of bullying, the same study indicated that 62 percent of children surveyed admitted to being bullied to the extent that they were “belittled about looks or speech.”
And, 52 percent of students surveyed admitted to being bullied through “unwanted sexual comments.”
Granted, the trend in bullying tends to dissipate as people grow up.
However, with the growing number of cases of cyber-bullying and bullying being taken to new and dangerous extremes, it seems maturation is not coming quickly enough to save some students from becoming victims of harassment.
“I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have something exposed, true or not, and then walk into the cafeteria and wonder who posted it — I think it’s over-idealistic to say that a reputation doesn’t matter, because it does,” MacKenzie said. “If you get a felony, that’s on your record — it’s a reputation. You go into a job interview, they see your record and choices are made off of that.”
04-10-2008