What is Bullying?

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.  The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.  Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious lasting problems.

• In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:
  • An imbalance of power:
    • Kids who bully use their power-such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information or popularity to control or harm others.
    • Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations.
  • Repetition:  Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Types of Bullying

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on person.

Three types of Bullying

Verbal Bullying

• Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things.  Verbal bullying includes:
  • Teasing
  • Name-calling
  • Inappropriate sexual comments
  • Taunting
  • Threatening to cause harm

Social Bullying

• Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships.  Social bullying includes:
  • Leaving someone out on purpose
  • Telling other children not to be friends with someone
  • Spreading rumors about someone
  • Embarrassing someone in public

Physical Bullying

• Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions.  Physical bullying includes:
  • Hitting/kicking/pinching
  • Spitting
  • Tripping/pushing
  • Taking or breaking someone’s things
  • Making mean or rude hand gestures

Frequency of Bullying

• There are two sources of federally collected data on youth bullying.
  • National Center for Educational Statistics
    • More than one out of every five (20.8%) students report being bullied
  • The 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
    •  Nationwide, 19% of students in grade 9-12 experienced bullying.

Ryan Halligan Story

Social Media

Secrets Preteens Keep on Their Phones Part 1

Secrets Preteens Keep on Their Phones Part 2

Cyberbullying & Sexting

Cyberbullying: willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.

Sexting: sending or reliving sexually explicit suggestive nude or seminude images or videos, generally via cell phone

The most common places where cyberbullying occurs are:

• Social Media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter
• SMS (Short Message Service) also known as Text Message sent through devices
• Instant Message (via devices, email provider services, apps, and social media messaging features)
• Email

Social Media Apps to Know About

social-media-article

Yik Yak

All users are anonymous (registration requires no personal information, other than a user’s location), and their posts are called “Yaks” and show up on a live feed for other users-or “Yakkers”-in their area….The app is rated ages 17+ and targets college students, who can use it to spread the word about parties, and events or share their thoughts. But younger users are easily getting their hands on the app and using it to post hurtful comments and rumors about their peers.

ask.fm

This app allows users to interact in a  question-and-answer format-with friends, peers, and anonymous users alike.  The app is rated ages 13+ and is most popular in Europe but is catching on in the U.S..  Some kids have used the app for hurtful cyberbullying that has been linked to suicide, including the death of 12 year-old Rebecca Sedwick of Florida.

Tinder

Tinder’s developers describe the app as “the fun way to connect with new  and interesting  people around you”… Tinder helps people find others in their geographic location and allows users to view each others’ photos and start instant messaging once both people have “liked” one another.  The geo-location features and anonymous nature of the app put kids at risk for cat fishing, sexual harassment, stalking, and worse.

Bumble

Bumble was first founded to challenge the antiquated rules of dating.  “We empower women by giving them the ability to control the conversation when dating, finding friends, and networking online. Bumble has made it necessary, and therefore acceptable, for women to make the first move. This is extremely significant: Prompting women to initiate the conversation has led to the highest post-match chat rate in the industry.”

PlentyOfFish (POF)

An online dating service, popular primarily in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and the United States.  It has around 80 million users.  It is available in nine languages…. While is is free to use, PlentyOfFish offers premium service as part of their ungraded membership, such as who has “liked” a member through  the services’s Tinder-like MeetMe feature, and allowing users to see whether a message has been read and/or deleted.

Kik

Kik  is a mobile app that people can use to text with friends at high speed and with more of a “face-to-face feel” than regular texting (user’s profile pictures appear in a little bubble next to their text, and they can quickly text photos, sketches, or even predesigned greeting cards to individuals or groups)…Reviews in the App Store and Google Play store reveal that many people use Kik to meet strangers for sexting.  The app has also been connected with cyberbullying.

Voxer

This walkie-talkie PTT (push-to-talk) app allows users to quickly exchange short voice messages.  They can have chats going on with multiple people at a time and just have to tap play button to hear any messages they receive…it’s becoming popular among teens who enjoy its hybrid style of texting and talking.  Hurtful messages from cyberbullies can be even more biting when they’re spoken and can be played repeatedly.

Snapchat

Snapchat is an app that allows users to send photos and videos that disappear from view within 10 seconds after they’re received…. Snapchat pics don’t completely disappear from a device, and users can take a screenshot before an image vanishes in the app…”disappearing photo” apps like Snapchat might embolden kids to send more explicit photos and texts than they would have before traditional texting.

Instagram

Instagram is a mobile, desktop, and Internet and Internet-based photo-sharing application and service that allows users to share pictures and videos either publicly, or privately to pre-approved followers…Users can connect their Instagram account to other social networking sites, enabling them to share uploaded photos to those sites.

Whisper

The 17+ app’s motto is: “Share Secrets, Express Yourself, Meet New People.”  It has aa similar feel to the now-defunct PostSecret app, which was discontinued shortly after its release because it filled up with abusive content… While it allows for creative expression.

Tumblr

Many children and young  teens are also active on this 17+ photo-sharing app.  It can be used for sharing videos and chatting….users can easily access pornographic, violent, and inappropriate content.  Common Sense Media Media also notes that users need to jump through hoops to set up privacy settings – and until then, all of a user’s photos and content is public for all to see.  Mental health experts say that Tumblr can be damaging to adolescents mental health because it tends to glorify self-harm and eating disorders.

Live.me

Live.me is a live streaming app which is designed to “Broadcast, Chat, Share, Follow, and Be a Star!” Teens can broadcast live videos and watch others’ videos. The terms of use state that users must be 13 years or older; however, young children are regular users. Risks: Users share their location and can see who is streaming locally, increasing the possibility of meeting in person, streams can be recorded by users without their knowledge and posted elsewhere, such as porn sites and there is potential for both predatory comments and bullying of broadcasters.

Yubo

Yubo, formerly known as “Yellow: Make New Friends,” is an application designed for people to chat and follow each other through Instagram and Snapchat. The age requirement to register is 13. Users under the age of 18 can only chat with people ages 13-17. Those over the age of 18 can only chat with people their age and older. Yubo users create a profile by adding photos, videos, and Instagram and Snapchat links. Yubo has been referred to as the “Tinder for Snapchat.” It’s similar to Blendr and Tinder in that users can choose to swipe left or right according to their interest in others’ profiles.  Once both individuals swipe right, they can chat and automatically link to each other’s Instagram and Snapchat accounts. Risks:  It’s easy for kids to get around the age restrictions as there is no age verification required and adults can pose as teens and vice versa to communicate.

Blendr

Blendr is an application designed for adults to “Chat, Flirt, and Meet New People.” Although this app states a requirement of age 18 to register, it’s one of the most popular applications for teenagers today.The application design is similar to another app that parents should be aware of called, “Tinder,” in that once a user creates a profile by adding photos and/or videos as well as a location, they are free to swipe left or right according to the user’s interest in a particular profile. Risks:  It’s easy for kids to get around the age restrictions as no age verification is required and adults can pose as teens and vice versa to communicate.

Jailbreak Programs and Icon-Hiding Apps

These aren’t social media apps-and they’re confusing-but you should still know about them (especially if you have a tech-savvy teen or have had to take any of your child’s mobile phone privileges because of abuse). “Jailbreaking” an iPhone or “rooting” an Android phone basically means hacking your own device to lift restrictions on allowable applications-meaning, the user can then download third-party apps not sold in the App Store or Google Play stores.

Fake Calculator App

The icon looks like a run-of-the-mill calculator, but when you open it and type in the correct passcode, it will open a treasure trove of hidden pictures and files that don’t appear anywhere else on your device.

Apps to Watch Out for in 2019

apps-to-watch-out-for-in-2019-common-sense-media

Survey of School Resource Officers

• 94% of SROs agreed cyberbullying was a serious problem warranting a law enforcement response
• 78% conducted cyberbullying investigations during the previous school year
• 93% agreed sexting was an important concern of law enforcement officers
• 67% investigated an average of 5 sexting incidents in the previous year

texas-anti

Prevalence of Sexting

• Estimated 4-31% of youth have participated in sexting
• 8% of 4,400 middle and high school students surveyed indicated that they had sent naked or seminude images of themselves to others
• 13% of 4,400 middle and high school students surveyed reported receiving naked or seminude images from classmates

cyberbullying-and-sexting

hrsa_guide_law-enforcement-officers_508v2

Street Gangs

Gangs

A gang is an organized group with a recognized leader whose activities are either criminal or, at the very least, threatening to the community.  Although gang members are part of these organizations, they rarely acknowledge their own roles as contributing to the problems in that community.

Street gangs in Los Angles are described as a group of individuals who may or may not claim control over a certain territory in the community and engage, either individually or collectively, in violent or other forms of illegal behaviors.  However, one of the simplest and most functional definitions is that a gang is a group of people who form an allegiance for a common purpose and engage in violent, unlawful, or criminal activity.

Modern Street Gangs

While modern street gangs do have history to race and region specific recruitment, the current trends that are being identified are that RACE, ETHNICITY, SOCIOECONOMICS, and GENDER are NO LONGER A FACTOR

Facts About Gangs

• A gang is a group of people who claim a territory and use it to make money through illegal activities (i.e. drug trafficking).
• Gangs can be organized based upon race, ethnicity, territory, or money-making activities, and are generally made up of members ages 8 to 22
• Members of gangs wear specific articles of clothing to be recognized as part of the group such as bandanas, hats, scarves of certain colors, or gang-related tattoos or symbols
• Gangs are one of the leading factors for growth of violent crimes both on and off  school property
• When joining a gang, often times there is an initiation that needs to be passed.  The initiation is usually a violent crime that could include theft, murder, gang-rape, or drive-by shootings.
• Gang members are more likely to be arrested or involved with drugs and alcohol than non-gang members
• 86% of U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more report gang activities
• According to the FBI in 2011, there were 33,000 violent street, motorcycle, and prison gangs active in the U.S. with more than 1.4 million members (a 40% increase from 2009)
• In recent years, gangs are participating in more non-traditional crimes such as prostitution, alien smuggling, and human trafficking, identity theft, and mortgage fraud
• According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Long Beach, Los Angles, Newark, Oakland, and Oklahoma City-are the capitals of gang homicide
• Neighborhood-based gangs pose the highest rate of significant threat for violent crimes in the U.S. versus national-level street gangs, prison gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs

Gang Violence Statistics

• Gang-related  homicides account for approximately 13% of all homicides annually
• Highly populated areas accounted for the vast majority of gang homicides
  • Nearly 67% occurred in cities with populations over 100,000
  • And 17% occurred in suburban counties in 2012
• In a typical year in the so-called “gang-capitals” of Chicago and Los Angeles, around half of all homicides are gang-related
• These two cities alone counted for approximately 1 in 4 homicides recorded in 2011-2012
• Among agencies serving rural counties and smaller cities that reported gang activity, around 75% reported zero gang-related homicides
• Overall, these results demonstrate conclusively that gang violence is greatly concentrated in the largest cities in the U.S.

gang-offenses

Why Do You Adults Join Street Gangs

• Street gangs promote to provide a send of camaraderie, friendship and family, as members establish a strong loyalty to alliances
• Members experience false senses of success and confidence within the gang, as street gangs promote power and wealth
• Security and protection becomes a factor, as respect, fear, and recognition are gained by joining
• Members are sometimes born into families and neighborhoods that identify with the gangster lifestyle
• Members are influenced through false role models, as they look up to gang leaders and elders to provide missing life values
• Threats of bodily injury or death to individuals and/or their immediate friends or family for refusing to join a gang

Universal Street Gang Identifiers & Warning Signs

• Self-admission
• Gagne specific body markings: tattoos, burns, and branding
• Possession of gang specific paraphernalia that is foley identified within the gang specific groups through the display of colors, reading material, graffiti, clothing, and/or symbology
• Association to identifier and active street gangs and/or associated members
• Observation of unexpected new friends, money, and expensive clothing and/or electronics
• Signs of physical altercations and/or possession of weapons
• Unexpected trouble with law enforcement, school attendance and activities, distancing from family and friends and/or disregard for family rules and curfews

What Can Law Enforcement Do

le-officials-guide-to-ojjdp-comprehensive-gang-model

Summary

• In this module, you were able to…
  • Define bullying and cyberbullying
  • Understand how bullying and cyberbullying impact society
  • Identify and explore your potential role in preventing bullying and cyberbullying
  • Explore the impact of gangs and gang violence in the U.S.

Module 3 is Now Complete

You May Take Module 3 Quiz Now