Text bullying and associated problems

Johnny Beardsmore

Northampton Branch, July 2006

Session Overview

• What is it?

• Mobile Phones.

• Statistics.

• Bullying.

• Text Bullying.

• How can it be done?

Related Problems.

• Some Solutions.

What is it?

BullyPerson using strength or power to coerce fear.

BullyingPersecute or oppress by force or threats.

OED[1]

•

Text BullyingWhen someone abuses or threatens … by text, … it’s

just as bad as them doing it at school or in the street.stoptextbyllying[1]

Mobile Phones

519 Million handsets sold in in 2003.431.5 Million handsets sold in 2002.

Dataquest[1]

> 1 Million 3G handsets predicted sales in the UK in 2006.MobileStatisti[1]

> 2 Million SmartPhone handsets predicted sales in the UK in 2008.

MobileStatisti[1]

Percentage of Scandanavian teenagers owning a mobile phone

Owner

Non Owner

Percentage of Scandanavian teenagers owning a mobile phone

Owner

Non Owner

Percentage of Scandanavian teenagers owning a mobile phone

Owner

Non Owner

Mobile Phones Cont…

Cronica[1]

ChildAlert[1]Percentage of Scandanavian teenagers

owning a mobile phone

Owner

Non Owner

Percentage of British teenagers owning a mobile phone

Owner

Non Owner

5 - 9 Year olds owning a mobile phone in 2003

Owner

Non Owner

5 - 9 Year olds owning a mobile phone in 2006

Owner

Non Owner

Bullying

“Bullying Wrecks lives.”“[Bullying] seriously damages children’s capacity for learning and for enjoying school.” ~ Esther Rantzen

Cronica[1]

“Bullying cases appear to be reported more often now than before” ~ Jacqui Smith

tmcnet[1]

31,000 children called CL regarding bullying in 2005, which represents a 42% rise from the year 2003-2004

CL[1]

Text Bullying

“Many young people calling ChildLine said that the use of new technology, such as SMS text messaging and email, was a factor in the bullying they were experiencing”

CL[1]

1 / 10 children school children have fallen victim to text bullies in Irish schools:

10.8% Boys8.7% Girls

enn[1]

The Nature of the Bullying

How do you bully someone by text?

• Threats of Violence• Racist Abuse• General Torments• Hate Mail

“…forwarding to other people pictures taken of classmates in toilets”

channelnewsasia[1]

Related Problems

Phone Addiction“…addictive behaviour is too strong a word for mobile

phone usage by children [but there are] worrying signs of dependency”

Childalert[1]

Health Risks“…children and young people might be more venerable

than others” ~ Dept. of HealthChildalert[1]

Related Problems

Driving Safety“Using a mobile phone whilst driving can be more dangerous than being

‘over the limit’ behind the wheel, but neither is safe.

Drivers' reaction times are 30 percent slower when talking on a hand-held mobile phone compared to being drunk and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions. Using a hand-held mobile phone had the greatest impact on driving performance, but "hands free" mobile phones also affect drivers ”

Childalert[1]

Educational Development

C U 2NITE = See you tonight

U R GOIN L8R = You’re going later

What can be done

Parent-Child Contracts.

Limited talk-time and text-time phone contracts.

Talk to children, ask them.

What can be done cont…

StopTextBullying top 10 tips.

stoptextbyllying[1]

References

oed[1] Oxford English Dictionary

stoptextbullying[1] http://www.stoptextbullying.com

mobilestati[1] http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2005/07/mobile_stati.html

childalert[1] http://childalert.co.uk/absolutenm/templates/newstemplate.asp?articleid=54&zo...

cronica[1] http://www.cronica.com/archives/001339.html

tmcnet[1]

cl[1] http://www.childline.org.uk

enn[1] http://www.enn.ie/frontpage/news-9711681.html

channelnewsasia[1] http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews...

Dataquest[1] http://www.dataquest.com/press_gartner/quickstats/phone.html