Customer Reviews

Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying

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I am a counselor in a middle school and found this book to be a powerful read. It is very well organized and indexed. Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard is eye-opening to the huge concern of Cyberbullying - from the basics to prevention, as well as important legal issues. This would be an awesome read for staff development, or any educator invested in protecting our students. The last section of the book has awesome resources that include activities not only for students, but also for staff development.

Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin's book highlights the growing and pervasive problem of cyberbullying with rich detail and thorough research. Every educator and parent should read this book to understand how technology can be used as a vehicle to bully. I knew cyberbullying was a global problem; however, I didn't know the myriad of ways that adolescents can cyberbully and its array of negative short and long-term effects on victims. I realized that adolescents are really in their own "private worlds" with technology, and adults need to be more aware, proactive, and computer savvy to help ameliorate this frightening issue. An excellent, concise, and compelling book with real stories and helpful strategies to combat this problem. Superb!!

As an educator, at the middle school level, I found this book to be extremely helpful.It is easy to read and well indexed. This book puts all the information about the dangers on the internet in one place. The real life examples help put it all into perspective for me. I was amazed by the amount of information the book contained. It was truly an education. From what to look for to prevention and the legal issues involved this book has become an asset at my school.

In their new book, "Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard," Professors Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin perform a valuable public service by pulling aside the curtain that blinds far too many parents and educators from the dangers and challenges of cyberspace. This excellent work takes its place among a growing number of books and articles that explore this modern phenomenon and ranks among the best.

While the book contains the research data and exhaustive research that one expects from a scholarly work, it includes an important element that is too often lacking: compassion. It is obvious, from the first example of how cyberbullying works and what it can do, that the authors genuinely care about the victims, most of them young people who are unprepared for the rigors that cyberspace can bring. In addition, they clearly care about parents and educators who wrestle with the problems of cyberspace on a daily basis and provide all parties methods and strategies to deal with them.

Professional educators will particularly appreciate the practical information and useful documents included in the book. This book is not only extremely useful for the "end user," but also for a "trainer of trainers" curriculum. It is rare to find so many elements in one accessible, easily read work. This book belongs on the shelf of anybody concerned about cyberbullying and its effect on schools and children.

I needed this book to write a research paper and found it very well organized with easy to understand text. It has lots of graphs that are easy to understand and break down the data into all different segments- grades, sex, age, etc. I found it very eye opening with a lot of information for the average parent to find out and easily understand. This is a must read for any parent whose child has a cell phone, facebook or myspace account or other electronic communication device.It even has a list of the popular abbreviations that teens use so you will know what they mean when you see them. Well worth the money and time to read.

Cyberbullying is becoming a sever issue in our society. If you have children or work with them, this is a must read! The research is invaluable and the perspectives given hone in on the steps we as a society must take to prevent cyberbulling. As an educator, this book opened my eyes to not only how students were bullying each other, but how technology is being used against teachers. I highly recomend using this book for inservices within the schools!

This book is divided into seven chapters that provide a concise analysis and summary of the current state of knowledge regarding cyberbullying. The first half of the book engages in such matters as the explosive nationwide growth of teen Internet activities, how cyberbullying is different from other instances of bullying, and the debilitating effects cyberbullying can have on youngsters. The authors' first-hand research on cyberbullying, outlined in Chapters 3 and 4, is compelling. In the largest project of its kind, Hinduja and Patchin conducted a survey of student online behavior among 2,000 middle-school children randomly selected from one of the largest school districts in the United States. They found that 17.3 % had been cyberbullied at least once in their lifetime, 17.6% admitted to cyberbullying others at some point in their lifetime, and 12% reported being both a victim and perpetrator of cyberbullying. The authors also discuss the findings of a study they conducted on how teens are representing themselves and interacting with others on Internet social networking sites. Aside from their own path-breaking research, Hinduja and Patchin draw together in a clear and meaningful way the current research on youth centered correlates of cyberbullying such as age, gender, and race. They also meld personal stories of cyberbully victims with a detailed examination of the motivations of youth who cyberbully and the communication mediums they use to harass victims.

The second half of the book is extremely thorough in providing an overview of legal issues confronting school officials in responding to cyberbullying incidents as well as offering practical suggestions to educators for putting anti-cyberbullying rules in place in the school setting. Hinduja and Patchin skillfully examine current legislative measures states are adopting to curb cyberbullying and discuss shifting case law interpretations of the right of school officials to restrict student speech or behavior and to control what students do off campus. They present this material in a clear, non-technical manner, avoiding the use of specialized legal terms. To their credit, the authors offer a succinct breakdown of the essential components of a comprehensive cyberbullying policy for school districts. The treatment of this subject is a good example of the clearness and thoroughness of the book. As with earlier chapters, the authors support their writing with ample scholarly citations (over 228 citations). A rich resource section at the end of the book contains a wide range of helpful exercises and practical information for educators, parents, and youths on preventing and responding to cyberbullying, including tools and strategies for helping children who are targets of cyberbullying.

In sum, this book delivers on its title by providing a comprehensive pathway for understanding a new form bullying unlike the usual school yard variety. It is a scholarly work that is engaging, passionately written, and well documented. Each chapter is clear and concise and one can easily envision this book as a master reference text for researchers, educators, law enforcement professionals, and parents who are concerned with bullying through the use of technology. It represents an innovative work by two gifted scholars.

I have read a few books of bullying as well as articles. This was a good book, although maybe some editing would have made it more readable. It was a good research book for someone interested in bullying. I wish it would have been printed in smaller size because the size was not so good to take with you in a briefcase, a smaller size would have been much easier to handle.
It is not a very thick book and therefore, if someone is looking for a short book to read of this topic, then this is a good purchase.
Many of the methods mentioned in this book are used in many countries. Cyberbullying has come a new hot topic in media and at schools. Therefore, I would recommend this book to any student, teacher or reasearcher to read.
Even parents would get some ideas of what to do if their children face bullying in any form.

Thirty percent of students 17 years and younger reported being the victim of cyberbullying, or the willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices (p. 5).

Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin's authoritative book on cyberbullying educates readers on the basics of cyberbullying, the cyberbullying platforms, the victim and aggressor profiles, social networking, legal issues, prevention, and response to cyberbullying.

Audience. If a teacher has little knowledge of computers, social networking, and the Internet, she could read this book and walk away an expert. Teachers seeking solutions to problems can read the chapters on preventing cyberbullying and responding to cyberbullying without needing to read the entire book. Administrators who wish to set up a cyberbullying support program in their schools should read the entire book and use Hinduja and Patchin's suggestions as a springboard to their own policies. Parents can learn from this book, too, and advocate for their student with the knowledge within.

Hinduja and Patchin write in the book's conclusion that reading the book will make you the best informed person about cyberbullying in your school. The first three chapters contain tons of facts and research for advocates to push for cyberbullying policies and the legal advice in chapter 5 makes a compelling argument for cyberbullying prevention. The authors encourage readers to become school leaders for cyberbullying support and they offer readers the tools to accomplish this in their extensive resource section.

Resources. The best part of the book lies in the resources. The authors include a glossary of terms for teachers who want to understand terms like digital footprint (evidence of a person's use of the Internet) and flaming (sending angry, rude, or obscene messages). The resources section also includes cyberbullying discussion scenarios for use in class, staff development questions, and reproducible cyberbullying assessments, contracts, school report card, and signage. For more resources and cyberbullying articles, visit Hinduja and Patchin's cyberbullying Web site: http://www.cyberbullying.us/

The bottom line. Hinduja and Patchin's book doesn't make for lively reading; however, it's a well researched primer on cyberbullying. Readers will walk away with enough background knowledge and practical advice to be the cyberbullying authority in their school. The printables and activities in the resource section as well as the suggestions for creating an anti-cyberbullying support program in schools will help teachers, school officials, and parents support cyberbullying victims and prevent further aggression.

This book would be an asset to a principal's, guidance counselor's, or staff's professional development bookshelf. Teachers whose classes use the Internet often would benefit from reading it, too.

Note: this review originally appeared at http://www.InsideTheSchool.com

There are a lot of statistics floating around on the internet about cyberbullying, but Patchin and Hinduja are the number one source for valid and illuminating cyberbullying data. Presented in an easy to read format, this book is recommended for academics and parents alike! It is a must read for anyone who wants to take an informed and realistic approach to cyberbullying prevention and response. Their expertise in the legal issues that schools face in the wake of the misuse of new media technologies is unmatched. If every school district in the US takes a reasoned policy approach to this emerging issue, we'd not only make our schools and online learning spaces safer, we'd be preparing our students for responsible online interactions in their personal lives and careers.

I have been speaking about cyberbullying for the past 4 years and I find Patchin and Hinduja's resources invaluable. Their website (www.cyberbullying.us) is also excellent, always up-to-date!