Educational Stakeholders Perceptions of Cyberbullying on the Learning Environment

• Main Author: Stinson, Aaron
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2019
• Subjects: Adolescents; Educational Environment; Educational sociology; Parent Participation; Secondary Education; Teacher education; Teaching Methods
• ISBN: 9798635238585

Students today are facing a technological and cultural shift in education and in interpersonal relationships skills that are transforming the way that they learn and interact. As students have become more connected to technology to learn and communicate the negative impact this is having on students is beginning to be displayed. One impact that this new shift is impacting students is through cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the use of technology to repeatedly create an imbalance of power to do harm to a student. These three elements of cyberbullying can be created in a myriad of ways and through multiple digital and social media platforms. The goal of this research is to investigate the perceptions that students, parents, and educators have about cyberbullying and to investigate how cyberbullying is impacting students in the classroom. This research was conducted using three different approaches. A factorial survey using scenarios was distributed to over 300 participants who rated each scenario through a severity ranking scale and an open-ended question. This was then followed up with focus group interviews of each group of stakeholders. The goal was to better understand the perceptions of each group of stakeholders in order to better understand the holistic impact that cyberbullying is having on students in the classroom. Through this understanding, it is the hope that parents and educators can better support and protect students from cyberbullying.