State of art of cyberbulling research: The case of Brazil

STATE OF ART OF CYBERBULLING RESEARCH: THE CASE OF BRAZIL

A new type  of violence  involving children and adolescents grows and takes previously unimaginable  proportions. Such violence, best known as ciberbullying, makes use of media (email, phone, social networking sites, videos, among others) and is intended to intimidate, assault and threaten their victims in order to make them vulnerable  to the perpetrators. Nowadays the fact that youth have great access to electronic media, combined to the early age many of them interact with, makes them great producers / targets of virtual bullying, or ciberbullying. The aim of this paper is to verify the “state of art” of studies that have bem dealing with this new phenomenon. Recent research states the  difficulties in controlling the spread of information, with a view to rapid transmission of a large audience and easy access to media, making its victims more vulnerable. They also show that most young people use the internet, spend much of their day online and already have their own cell phone, text message and a powerful means of communication between them and their colleagues. Reports of students cite several cases in which they and / or colleagues have been victims of intimidation; when they are not victims themselves, they  know of  someone who went through such a situation. Specialists point out that some values ​​must be passed on to young people in order to fight or at least soften the ciberbullying, such as ethics, respect, sensitivity and responsibility in relationships. It is also mentioned that it is important to limit their access to media, always showing what is appropriate and healthy for them and for society, showing responsibility when it comes to his life and another.