COST ACTION IS0801 Cyberbullying: coping with negative and enhancing positive uses of new technologies, in relationships in educational settings.
Chair
Peter K Smith, Emeritus Professor
Unit for School and Family Studies
Department of Psychology
Goldsmiths, University of London,
London SE14 6NW, UK
Vice - Chair
University of Luxembourg
Campus Walferdange, route de Diekirch
Walferdange Luxembourg
Participant countries
There has been 28 participating COST countries : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Kingdom. Two NON-COST countries : Australia, Ukraine
Aim of COST ACTION IS0801
The main aim of the Action is to share expertise on cyberbullying in educational settings, coping with negative and enhancing positive uses of new technologies in the relationships area, moving towards a common set of guidelines applicable in Europe.
What is 'Cyberbullying'?
Cyberbullying refers to bullying and harassment of others by means of new electronic technologies, primarily mobile phones and the internet. There has been much research and action on traditional forms of bullying in schools, with some success, but cyberbullying has arisen and increased in the last few years. Researchers, pupils, parents, teachers, unions, and local, regional and national authorities, are all in various ways starting to grapple with the issues involved in cyberbullying, in consultation with mobile phone companies and internet service providers. There are also positive uses of new technologies for relationships in schools; for example, using a school intranet for peer support services.
Main objectives of COST IS0801
1. Sharing of developing expertise in knowledge base and measurement techniques across researchers (comparisons of the nature of cyberbullying across different countries; measurement instruments for different purposes; linguistic issues in translation)
2. Sharing of input from outside the research community; specifically, from legal experts (e.g. on rights regarding privacy, anonymity, defamation etc on the internet); and from mobile phone companies and internet service providers (on present and feasible actions, new technological developments, etc).
3. Sharing of already nationally published guidelines, and recommended coping strategies, in different countries, including positive uses of new technologies in the relationships area; moving towards a common set of guidelines applicable for the European Community.
4. Increased awareness of the issue, and of the outcomes of the Action, to likely beneficiaries of the Action.
Timetable and Management
The Action formally started in October 2008, and lasted for 4 years, finishing in October 2012.
The activities of the Action were organized by a Management Committee and 28 countries have been represented on the Management Committee
Finance Secretariat & Webmistress
Associate Professor Dr Ruthaychonnee (Ruth) Sittichai
Unit for School and Family Studies
Goldsmiths, University of London,
London SE14 6NW, UK
MC Members at final meeting in Vienna