Case Study: Henry, a Victim of Cyberbullying

This case comes from "News - Case Studies on Cyberbullying" Retrieved from http://www.growingwireless.com/be-aware/cyberbullying/news-case-studies-on-cyberbullying. The action steps have been summarised from the discussion below.

"Henry was a shy sixth-grader who recently arrived at school from out
of state. One day as he was browsing a social media site he came across
 a page about the school with pictures of students, including one of
him labeled “The Fat Nerd.” Upset, he posted a reply expressing his
dismay.

 The postings became nastier, and soon some students
were making loud comments in the lunchroom and on the playground. A
teacher overhead some of the names, and asked Henry what was going on.
He described the social media page and the cyberbullying."

### Action Steps

This is a serious case in which a young vulnerable student has been targeted. Interestingly, the internet account of the case study only very briefly describes an incident specific reaction. Although it is seen to be successful, it does not go beyond that and consider a more holistic and school wide response. In contrast, we do.

1. It will be important in this case for the school's administration to be involved because this case of bullying has gone far beyond a single perpetrator and a single incident. That does not mean that there has to be a heavy, over-dramatic intervention but it does, initially, need to be quick and effective.
2. The school will need to collect copies of the existing evidence and will need to involve the parents of all the students involved. On the positive side, the students are still at an age when they can be more easily influenced to consider and reform their behavior and when their parents can also be usefully involved in the solution. so, parental support in dealing with this incident and the school's more general response to bullying and cyber-bullying will be an important factor in the success of the school's intervention. As has been pointed out, boys (and girls) may well hide this sort of behavior from their parents. Educating both children and parents will then be important.
3. This incidence of bullying needs to be discussed openly, in the classroom, with all involved. It will be important to give Henry a voice and to try and ascertain who the cyber bullies were and why they behaved in this way. It is quite possible that, at this age, henry was not the only victim. The discussion does then need to be held in such a way as to make students feel comfortable to come forward if there are other incidents of bullying or cyber bullying that need to be brought out into the open.
4. A discussion about the incident itself should be coupled with a comprehensive approach within the school and its curriculum, to develop awareness of the issue and to show students how to react and to whom they should talk, if they become the victims of bullying of any kind. Ideally, this will be coupled with the reinforcement or development of an "ally" system so as to draw all students into being the solution rather than the problem.
5. As he is at such a sensitive age, Henry may need counselling as he gets over this experience. It will also be important to devise a strategy that will rebuild his confidence, perhaps by giving him a leadership role in a classroom activity or by having him captain an appropriate school team.