Cyber bullying is a growing problem, with a survey from the UK Department of Children, Schools and Families suggesting that up to 34% of 12 to 15 year olds have suffered from abusive emails, text messages or postings on social networking sites.
Approaches to preventing and combating Cyber bullying include developing guidelines for Schools, Government campaigns such as 'Safe to Learn', measures by social network sites to allow reporting of abuse or inappropriate content, and development of online gaming environments in which children can assume the identity of virtual characters and learn by participating in scenarios.
This workshop aims to bring together leading authorities, researchers, social network providers and Schools with experience of developing policies, guidelines, and virtual environments for preventing cyber bullying with a view to:
- Sharing lessons learned in developing and deploying policies, guidelines and virtual online gaming environments for preventing cyber bullying.
- Developing an understanding of the social and cultural issues of cyber bullying.
- Identifying areas of best practice, potential improvements and directions for future research.
