Dealing with cyber-bullying: A practical approach

I'm trying to write this post from our ancient computer at home....Good old Easter Holidays.

On 23rd of March 2013, five members made up of our printing making group, our lecturer and a coordinator from the community group itself attended "Dealing with cyber-bullying: A practical approach" in IADT Dun Laoghaire. We set of after seven that morning, and after driving down almost every street in Dun Laoghaire we arrived and set up our stand. It's the first time members of our community based practise group have stepped outside of the studio,so this was a new venture,  and it was something to aim for in regards to getting work done over the last week and a half.

 

Now I was sure that we would be one of many stands and displays at this event. It's probably a reason that I really didn't mind going, I would have though that seeing as it was in a venue so close to an art college, that other groups and organisations would be represented. We were the only display. No pressure.

Throughout the week, we were sure that we wouldn't have nearly enough to fill our display, we though it was to be an 8x8 sized display space. As it turns out, it was smaller, and we had more than enough made to fill the space. We were right inside the front door, which was great really because there was no avoiding us!

Our posters and mouse pads especially attracted attention.

The Speakers for the day dealt with issues such as sexual harassment and grooming, guidelines for preventing cyber-bullying in school environments, the role of the bystander, homophobic bullying, tools and prevention methods of cyberbullying, legal aspects of cyberbullying and much more.

Irene Connolly, IADT showed us this video as part of her talk on The role of bystanders in tackling cyberbullying:

We are all Daniel Cui

How one school came together to support a victim of cyber-bullying in their school.

 

 

I managed to record five of these talks (before my phone gave up on me).
Sorry for any shuffling during the recordings, I was writing and moving sheets pretty frantically! It will really only affect a few seconds at the start of some of the recordings, but I apologise for it none the less!

• Irene Connolly, The Role of the bystander in tackling cyberbullying
• James O'Higgins Norman, Homophobic Bullying
• Grainne Kirwan, Social Media and Internet safety
• Stephen Minton, developing technological tools in the prevention and countering of cyberbullying behaviour
• Deirdre McDonnell, Action Plan on bullying

 



There are some things that I didn't even consider when thinking of cyber-bullying, and I'm sure they didn't come up in any discussions we had as a group, at least not in any great detail. Dr.James O'Higgins Norman from DCU looked at the problem of homophobic bullying in schools, as it's something that occurs both online and offline. It is especially a problem in second level schools.The talk looked at teachers fears of standing up for LGBT issues, for fear of being targeted themselves. This inactivity turns them into bystanders. 90% of second level teachers have reported homophobic bullying on a weekly basis within their schools. And why is this? Why is their such a divide between second and third level? How come within few months after leaving secondary education, it become a none issue for people to be gay or be associated with LGBT issues? There is wider acceptance at third level. I won't say in this country that their is equal and perfect acceptance, but compared to second level education there is a massive difference.

We heard about the bystander effect from Irene Connolly . In this case, the over arching silence of LGBT views and issues at second level is leading to a negative culture surrounding this. There is the problem of Indirect homophobic bullying, and this is linked to school ethos. For example, the idea of 'everyone is straight', or one stereotype being applied to all students, and the idea of everyone fitting into a social circle. Homophobic bullying arises from this idea of normal, according to Dr.O'Higgins Norman. If someone steps outside the idea of normal then they are targeted. The oppressive nature 'fitting in' and conforming while in second level schools only proves that young people are not learning to deal with difference.
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Grainne Kirwan looked at social media and Internet safety. I have a slightly older post highlighting some tips to stay safe online: Top Tips to online safety!  During this talk she presented us with comments left on sites such as Facebook, Ask.fm (which is a point of controversy in Ireland currently), Formspring (Similar to Ask.fm), Spill It, and Little Gossip. The worst of these comments were often left by adults. As I said in an earlier post adults: have giving children a master class in cyber-bullying. She made a point that is later supported by Stephen Minton. Banning the Internet, social media or specific social media sites won't work. Encouraging safer behaviour, encouraging general mutual respect, and educating people on the importance of privacy settings may.

The Internet has it's good and bad points. For example, it can help and support Interpersonal relations and allows an expression of identity. It combats stigma surrounding mental health conditions.
However, it is often seen for it's bad points such as it increasing lack of privacy and the fact that many people use the Internet and social media as a weapon, abusing this privacy.

Stephen Minton spoke about Mobile Phone Aggression (MPA). This was something we had thought about as a group, and we had some graphics representing it, but most of our attention did go on social media. Dr.Minton described MPA as being psychologically dangerous, and re-affermed the idea of "No safe place" for victims. It is that bit more personal again. A computer can be turned off much easier than a phone. MPA has been a long standing problem. In 2006-7, one in ten children were being bullied through mobile phone devices. The fact that phones are so conceabable, and sim cards are interchangable also helps it remain a strong weapon of cyber bullies. As with other forms of cyber bullying, a mobile phone depersonalises the victim, "When we can't see our traget, it's easier to be brutal", easier to justify our actions.

As it turns out, MPA has been banned since 1951!
Telephone violence has been banned under section 1 and 13 (offences connected with telephones).
Dr.Minton was part of a group that set up "Safety Net". It allows any softwear to be blocked, it prevents drunking dialing (which will save you both embarrasment and the likely hood of being accused of harrassment...). Most importantly is gives a victim of cyber-bullying a sense of empowerment with the "I do not accept this message" setting. Parents can also set a password.

TECHNOLOGY DID NOT CREATE THE PROBLEM OF CYBER-BULLYING. PEOPLE DID.



 

 





Maybe a little too much talking?!

I felt that we have been doing too much talking lately and not enough work. I think people seem a bit worn out. Some of the art students are getting more taken up with another exhibition thats getting closer. Part of the problem is that we don't always have everyone present at the meetings. Then to get people on the same page again, we have to re-cap. This is the nature of working with a group I think.
One of our lecturers is going to join the group for a planning session, just to see how were going and possible add some suggestions.

Seeing as we have been working with the idea of using aspects of street art as part of the exhibition, I brought in this book to the group. It has some really diverse ideas and takes on street art. 

Monotype printing

Earlier in the year, I tried mono type printing for a project. I was lucky that when choosing a project for community based practice after, that i was able to join the screen printing group.

These prints below were made by using lino ink, a roller and acetate . I drew/ created the image using pieces of cloth, rubbers and other utensils with useful heads! Its a really interesting process actually, and really easy to get completely emerged in it!

Let's have an exhibition!

Now that we were all to grips with the process of printing, it was full steam ahead and we starting brainstorming ideas that our group could build on. At this point, we were completely sure that we could handle the idea of a full scale exhibition, and the general mood was very daring. We looked at many different themes and issues that we could work from. For example:

• Graphic design,
• Pop Art,
• Cyber bullying-both sides of the story,
• Slogans,
• Storyboards,
• The Strawberry festival,
• Old stories and histories associated with Wexford, i.e Selskar Abbey, Loftus Hall and the Old Jail.
• The idea of printing on cardboard boxes and stacking these.
• Street Art
• Printing on Mirrors

Also, seeing as we have only a limited number of screens, we were looking at the idea of making our own table top screen printers.

This video is a good basic overview!

From the moment cyber bullying, Members of the group all seemed very enthusiastic to run with that idea. Cyber Bullying is a major problem among many age groups right now, especially with the rise in popularity of sites like Faceboook, Bebo and the fact that many children from a young age seem to have mobile phones days. Everyone will have heard of the horrible cases of young people being targets for this kind of abuse, after all, the internet is impersonal. It allows people to make remarks and insults, and hide once they turn off their compter screens. They don't have to look their victims in the eye or see the damage they can cause. As for the victims, seeing as the internet is both impersonal and public, the bully can take on a life of its own and so many people can join in, see comments made, and add their own. Some members of the group who had otherwise been quite up until now made lots of suggestions of slogan, logos and imagery we could use. One member of the group, (who has also become a great printmaking tutor), suggested that we print on cardboard boxes. Then use these to create an installation. 

now this was a brilliant suggestion! A very new venture for a group that generally prints on T-shirts, posters, caps and mouse pads of course we can still incorporate these at different stages of the project.

Coordinators of the group also suggested lots of different ideas. This is a creative, and they are at their best when they can design themselves. Once they have that solid idea, theres no stopping them!

These are some of the ideas,quotes and concepts suggested:

"When you tear cardboard apart, it can be stuck together again. People are not so easy"

"When i'm bullied I feel boxed in"

"Can you think outside the box and end cyber bullying"

"Boxes are fragile, so are people"

"It's boxing day everyday when I'm being bullied"

"I'm a real person don't put me in a box"

The idea of pushing people into a box, or blocking someone in. This came back to our discussion about how impersonal but public the internet and social media. We we thinking about the idea of highlighting that there is someone at the other end of the screen, someone who's feelings are hurt.

Maybe there are too many box references....

These two videos I found interesting, seeing as he prints on a large scale by hand, and he prints on discs. I also liked the finished poster, especially the highlights in yellow. We are thinking of colors and materials now so its something to keep in mind.