The interview was divided into 3 different themes, namely the occurrence of cyber bullying in the school, how cyber bullying is regulated in the school, and the specific problems that the regulation of cyber bullying presents to the school. A section wherein the principal could add his own thoughts on the subject of cyber bullying in schools was also added to the interview.
Theme 1: The occurrence of cyber bullying in the school
Although no actual statistics were available, the principal confirmed that cyber bullying occurs in the school, he stated that “There is no research or statistics available to say it (cyber bullying) is serious, but the fact that it (cyber bullying) exists is true … There is definitely cyber bullying happening in school”.
One specific case of cyber bullying was mentioned, and it was an instance where a group of friends victimised one learner and harassed her and called her names via social media. Thus, the cyber bullying was a group attack “It was a group of friends that bullied one learner, and it became very, very bad for that learner”.
When asked about the group nature of cyber bullying, the principal stated that “More than often it is not a one on one thing necessarily, it does happen, but I think in most cases you get a group of learners who single out another learner”.
The principal believes that the effect of cyber bullying is very serious for teenagers, and consequences of being cyber bullied includes depression, self-destructive tendencies and suicidal thoughts; “it makes them depressed … People want to take their own lives … for teenagers it is very serious”.
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The principal agreed with the statement that cyber bullying has a negative impact on the quality of education of learners. He believes that “learning can’t properly take place if a person is under severe strain or under pressure from their peers. It definitely affects them”.
The need to create awareness of the harm that cyber bullying can cause came to the fore as one of the important interventions schools should focus on (cf. section 2.3.1
The anonymous nature of cyber bullying). This need is confirmed by the principal because when asked about the excuses that cyber bullies offer for cyber bullying another learner, the principal stated that “the cyber bully rarely accepts that he is a cyber bully … the bully must be made to realise that he/she is psychologically damaging another person”.
Theme 2: How is cyber bullying regulated by the school?
The principal was asked to discuss the measures that the school has in place for dealing with instances of cyber bullying. The school offers education regarding cyber bullying, time is allocated in the LO classes to discuss cyber bullying with the learners, as the principal believes that it is the easiest way to reach all learners and to make them aware of cyber bullying, he said that “All learners in the school have LO classes … the decision was made to actively talk to learners about bullying within the LO classes”.
He also mentioned speakers at the schools such as the South African Police Services. “We do occasionally have interventions at school where the SAPS and social services speak to the learners at school about bullying …”
When dealing with instances of cyber bullying, the school follows all procedural steps for disciplinary proceedings as set out in the Code of conduct for learners:
We get all the information by talking to the victim first and by talking to those that are transgressing … What we do is get the parents also in. You first look at both sides of the story and see how big is this whole situation, who is involved and then you get the parents in and try to resolve (the matter) through discussion, dialogue in an open forum where people sit together and talk things out … It doesn’t always come to that, you are not always successful. Disciplinary proceedings are clearly explained in our Code of conduct, and there is a process to follow as well.
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Thus, the school gathers the necessary information, hears both sides of the story, and involve the parents of the learners. Clearly set out procedures are followed and the school aims to resolve the matter through discussion and dialogue with the victim, the bully, the parents and educators. When asked on how the procedure for dealing with cyber bullying differs from the procedure for dealing with traditional bullying, the principal stated the following:
Cyber bullying obviously speaks to WhatsApp’s and all social media forms, while traditional bullying is more face to face … It involves cell phones; it involves electronic media and those types of things … I think … there must be measures put in place with regard to these specific learners. That can help them and assist them … in such a way that they cannot bully others. It is very difficult and not easy to do. There must be some control from the parent’s side. It is important that the school and the parents have a close relationship in dealing with this. Together we can solve the problem. To try to solve it by ourselves from the school side is not possible … We do not allow cell phones to be on during school time. Cyber bullying can happen during break or after school. We allow learners to bring their cell phones to school. But it must be switched of and out of sight. We have free Wi-Fi, so the moment the school comes out you see a lot of learners working on their phones.
From this statement, it is clear that cyber bullying offers its own unique context, and must be regulated differently from traditional bullying. The involvement of parents is also emphasised.
Theme 3: Specific problems that the regulation of cyber bullying presents to schools
The principal was asked whether he agreed with the statement that cyber bullying was more difficult to regulate than traditional bullying. He stated that:
Yes, because of the fact that you can see a person. In cyber bullying you cannot necessarily see a person. Cyber bullying is more difficult to regulate, as you can’t spot it as easily as traditional bullying. It is difficult to limit the time that learners spend on social media, and the involvement of parents is essential.
When asked to share his own views on the regulation of cyber bullying the principal stated the importance of more research on the subject. He also expressed the view that information sharing, discussion groups and exchange of ideas on the subject are essential. He stated that:
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I just think that the fact that you are doing research on this, there should be more research and more things that we can discuss, and plans, and we should talk more, there must be more open forums for discussion and exchange of ideas to help assist schools and parents to be able to curb this.
This interview served to corroborate a number of the previous research findings. Cyber bullying does indeed take place at South African schools (cf. section 1.2 B), and more concrete measures for the regulation of cyber bullying need to be put in place. Cyber bullying is difficult to regulate, as you can’t easily identify it, and it is hard to limit the time learners spend on social media (cf. section 2.3 C). Cyber bullying severely impacts on the quality of learning and has several adverse effects on the victims thereof (cf. section 2.2.2 The harm caused by cyber bullying). By frequently using the words “problematic”, “serious problem” and “difficult”, the principal stressed the extent of the problem of cyber bullying in schools, and the difficulty in the regulation thereof. There are rough measures in place to deal with cyber bullying, but these measures are not enough to address the specific context and problematic factors of cyber bullying. The words “work together”, “more research”, “sharing of ideas” and “more information” were also used frequently. This indicates that a whole- school approach must be adopted when regulating cyber bullying, and that there is a need for more discussion and sharing of ideas on this topic.