The urgency of a global intervention that changes the social model
The presence in digital environments and the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) have undergone significant development. We are witnessing exponential growth in their use and consumption. For example, the use of smartphones has increased by more than 100% in Spain over the last decade. Likewise, the consumption of products through social media, video games, social networks, TV platforms, and other channels has grown.
We must also add the fact that Covid-19 and the circumstances surrounding the pandemic have further generalized the use and consumption of these products, which in some areas or times have become the only form of relationship, especially during times of confinement.
Cyberbullying has increased with the pandemic
It is clear that new technologies can greatly facilitate access to information, communication, relationships, and interactions between people; but we can also discover a dark side. Thus, despite the variety of benefits that new technologies can offer daily, recent research also identifies this dark side, which is becoming increasingly evident.
It seems clear that new forms of communication give rise to new forms of violence, as Stefan Zweig proclaimed, who in a turbulent time affirmed that violence reappears in every era in different forms, and that the fight against it must be continually resumed.
We must pay particular attention to its impact on children and adolescents, given that access to these technologies is occurring at increasingly younger ages. Furthermore, adolescents and young adults are much more vulnerable to its influence.
In this regard, as the Committee on the Rights of the Child points out and as stated in the UNICEF report , this digital environment can include biased, gender-stereotypical, discriminatory, racist, violent, pornographic, exploitative information that uses hate speech and fosters prejudice and polarization; as well as false narratives, misinformation and disinformation, distorting and seriously endangering the rights and even the mental health of children and young people.
Characteristics of cyberbullying
In this article we will mainly refer to one of the manifestations of this online violence: peer harassment, also known as " cyberbullying " .
Cyberbullying occurs when a child or adolescent is harassed, humiliated, threatened, or bullied by another child or adolescent through the use of the internet, mobile phones, or other interactive and digital technologies. It's important to note that this harassment happens between peers, in this case minors, and it's crucial to distinguish it from other practices involving adults.
Just as with face-to-face bullying , to classify a behavior as cyberbullying , a series of characteristics must be present:
- Repetition of actions. In the case of online harassment, the act of posting a single image already implies this repetition, since it is present every time someone accesses it.
- Intentionality of the perpetrator to cause harm to the victim.
- The victim's helplessness , who sometimes is even unaware of the existence of pages or messages that attack or implicate them.
Cyberbullying – like other forms of digital violence – has some specific characteristics, among which we mention the following:
- A sense of impunity on the part of the aggressor stems from not interpreting the acts as a direct manifestation of violence. This sense of impunity often leads to minimizing the harm done to the victim (justified through mechanisms of moral disengagement). Furthermore, a number of environmental factors increase this sense of impunity: there is no one around to stop them, they don't have to look the victim in the eye or risk eliciting a response, and they falsely believe they cannot be detected.
- Dissemination and repetition of the act , given the characteristics of the network, which is available at all times and to everyone.
- Lack of complaints from the victim, who usually does not do so for fear of losing "privileges of use" (that the parents will take away their mobile phone, that they will be prohibited from connecting or that they will be forced to deactivate their accounts on social networks...).
- And, especially, a complete lack of role models. What is acceptable or unacceptable online? To what extent is the same behavior considered a funny joke or an unjustifiable act of aggression? To give an example, let's mention an incident that occurred in a secondary school. A second-year ESO student was suspended for five days for recording an assault in the schoolyard with his mobile phone and posting it online. The previous night, this same student had watched a TV program with his family in which insults, mockery, contempt, and physical aggression were presented as jokes and laughter. This is " happy violence ," violence as entertainment. Is it acceptable? Is it legitimate to tolerate it? The influence of the media in normalizing these behaviors is clearly evident.
Access to violence through digital devices
Although it is not an easy phenomenon to quantify and the data can fluctuate depending on several variables, according to figures released by UNICEF (2020), around 7% of Spanish students reported having suffered cyberbullying during the last two months . Other studies obtain higher incidence rates.
It is also noted that girls are usually more affected than boys, and that the percentage of children who report having suffered cyberbullying increases as they enter adolescence.
Regarding this and other forms of violence, we present data that are, at the very least, worrying.
As an example, we cite data from the recent UNICEF report on the impact of technology on adolescents. There is an increasingly early use of mobile phones and access to pornography among minors:
- 42% of minors report having received messages of a sexual nature.
- 90.8% connect to the Internet every day or almost every day, but only 29% have parental controls.
We also know that cyberbullying, online gambling (it is estimated that more than 70,000 secondary school students have gambled money online at some point) and video game addiction have increased – games are designed to be addictive and are presented as platforms where, paradoxically, responsible play is encouraged.
Over-communication, information overload… More than half of teenagers (and perhaps adults as well) cannot distinguish true information or news from false information. Digital illiteracy or functional media illiteracy. Incapable of distinguishing reality from fiction. Here we must ask ourselves: How do we confront this violence? In what ways are we complicit in it? Why do we tolerate it?
The "normalized" violence of our society
Schools can become overwhelmed when dealing with these issues. Sometimes anti-bullying programs are implemented which, if applied with the involvement of all sectors, can reduce cyberbullying.
Prevention is key. In this regard, emphasis is placed on the need for digital and media literacy, online protection, training and involvement of families, and the importance of emotional education.
Sometimes, strict adherence to protocols , coupled with an increase in police reports, can lead to an over-judicialization of the problem. It is clear that sanctions must be applied and this violence must not be tolerated, but we cannot reduce it to a simple aggressor-victim dynamic. Intervention cannot be based solely on the individual characteristics or personality of the adolescent; it requires the study and treatment of relational aspects.
What to do if cyberbullying is detected?
It is essential to identify the causes of violence, and it is necessary to contextualize it, identifying and addressing the elements that generate and sustain it.
According to philosopher Gianni Vattimo, the main culprits are the media and the role models they transmit daily. Television and adults present behavioral models in which aggression is acceptable, and in which those who commit violent acts reap rewards and benefits. Furthermore, these behaviors are turned into spectacles, forming a core part of entertainment, constituting " happy violence ," amplified by certain video games in which players are the protagonists and are rewarded for such actions.
Thus, television contests based on the exclusion of participants, programs in which mockery and contempt constitute a spectacle, films in which the fury and cruelty of the heroes are abundantly manifested… A “normalized” violence present in song lyrics, in marketing and advertising, in the presentations of certain shows and products, in sports, in fashion, in politics and in language, and in so many other areas.
We must distinguish between subjective, observable, visible violence and other forms of violence—which we often normalize or render invisible. It's easy to focus on the former, but we must try not to fall prey to this dissociation. There are other forms of violence that are part of a more structural aspect, which we accept as inevitable or commonplace. These become internalized and desensitize us.
Complaints are often heard that students don't treat each other well at school, insult each other, disrespect teachers, and so on. But what role models are available to them?
Emotional education of children and young people
And what is our option, our choice? Someone once said: "If there is a choice, we choose the pursuit of a better world."
As Richard Davidson, a psychologist and psychiatrist known for his groundbreaking work on the study of emotions and the brain, states, "The foundation of a healthy brain is kindness, and kindness is the highest form of intelligence." Kindness is cultivated; hence the importance of setting a good example in society. This endeavor requires the commitment and involvement of all sectors and the entire community—schools, families, institutions—in a comprehensive effort that necessarily leads to a shift in the social model, to a more humane and freer society.
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