PULLMAN — Cyberbullying is a problem for everyone from kindergarteners to professors, say the organizers of an April 9 forum on electronic harassment.“The forum would benefit undergraduate and graduate students, parents, teachers, university faculty,” said Assistant Professor Sarah French, head of the Brain Education Library at WSU. “Cyberbullying happens on college campuses, in the workplace—it’s not just confined to school-age children.”
The WSU College of Education Research Forum and Community Dialogue will be led by French and her research colleague, Assistant Professor Hal Jackson of the Department of Teaching & Learning. The panel presentation, preceded by a 3:30 p.m. reception, begins at 4 p.m. in Room 212 of the Education Addition, located at Washington and Nevada streets on the Pullman campus.
French and Jackson will open the forum with an overview of school-based aggression and cyberbullying. They cite Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that almost one-third of teen Internet users report being targets of online harassment. That harassment includes having a personal e-mail forwarded and embarrassing pictures posted without permission, or being the subject of rumors sent via instant messages.
The program will also feature Associate Professor Nicole Werner of the WSU Department of Human Development, who will discuss adolescent involvement in Internet aggression, and Garren Shannon, director of information systems for the Pullman School District, who will talk about school-based prevention through education.
