Revisiting cyberbullying: Perspectives from Taiwanese teachers

Abstract

Cyberbullying among students has received extensive attention from researchers and educators. Most research is, however, based on student reports while teachers' perceptions of this aggressive behavior among students have rarely been studied. We surveyed 2821 Taiwanese teachers on their perceptions of cyberbullying among students, including the types and tools, the ability to remain anonymous, students' responses, and their own practices of handling cyberbullying incidents at school. The results showed that teachers believed that the circulation of embarrassing pictures and videos was the most prevalent type of cyberbullying but that instant messaging was the most frequently used tool. Our findings also revealed teachers' tendency of overestimating students' willingness to report cyberbullying. The students' grade level that the teachers taught and whether they take on administrative duties were found to influence their perceptions of student cyberbullying. We found that teachers were not confident to handle cyberbullying incidents and we suggest that anti-cyberbullying training be included in teacher education. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.