MSU research shows that bullying and harassment over the Internet or by text message can have as much impact on a student’s well-being as physical abuse.
One study published earlier this year by MSU criminologist Thomas Holt showed students bullied online or by cell phone are just as likely to skip school or contemplate suicide as those who are physically bullied. Though research on cyberbullying tends to focus on adolescents, MSU Extension Program Leader Janet Olsen said college students are still often victims.
“Experiences with bullying and cyberbullying absolutely continue into the college years for some people,” Olsen said.
Olsen, who helps coordinate bullying awareness workshops with MSU Extension, also pointed out that different legal frameworks are awarded to young people after they turn 18 years old.
Students should be aware that some behaviors that may have been labeled ‘bullying’ will involve different legal protections, Olsen said.
The Internet age also opens up a new outlet for abuse in the college dating world, according to new research conducted by Amy Bonomi, chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. Her study — one of the first to explore how non-physical abuse is perpetuated in the digital age — showed surprising effects of abuse through text messages and social media.
Bonomi surveyed more than 500 college students and found that women who were victims of controlling behavior or harassing text messages were at a greater risk for depression. Both male and female victims of non-physical dating abuse were more likely to smoke or develop eating disorders.
“Often an argument in society is that abuse that isn’t physical or sexual really doesn’t matter,” Bonomi said in a statement. “Is it really harmful, for example, if I call my partner a bad name? Or if I’m stalking them with text messages? Well, we’ve shown that it really does have a negative effect on health.”
Bullying victims at MSU can file a complaint with university officials for a formal investigation, Olsen said.
But political science and pre-law senior Megan Maguire pointed out that cell phones, Internet and social media allow constantly connected college students to remain anonymous.
“Students can hide behind a non-recognizable avatar or an impersonal username and say anything they want with little to no repercussions,” Maguire said. “It’s almost as if we’ve become desensitized towards bullying written only in words because there’s no immediate face-to-face feedback. It’s cowardly, but it’s only becoming more common as social media networks grow.”
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