A sharp joke between friends is one thing. A pattern of messages you cannot stop is another. Today you learn to tell cyberbullying apart from disagreement or banter, name the form of harm, and pick a reporting route that fits.
You will work short situations and complete a Cyberbullying Recognition Sheet for your Communication Portfolio: form of harm plus one named reporting route for each.
After Ciara's team loses a final, someone comments "loser" under every photo she posts, and keeps going for three weeks after she asks them to stop. That is harassment: repeated, intentional, and she cannot stop it on her own. One sharp comment on the night of the match can be banter or disagreement. Cyberbullying is the pattern. One person cannot make it stop on their own; the other person still holds the phone.
These labels are what you will write on your Cyberbullying Recognition Sheet in a few minutes. Cyberbullying is the umbrella (repeated, intentional digital harm the target cannot easily stop). On the sheet you name the form: harassment, doxxing, or image abuse.
| Form | What it means for you | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Harassment: unwanted contact that keeps coming after a clear stop | Look for volume, new accounts, and tags that force notifications | Messages mocking someone's accent keep coming on three different apps after they say stop |
| Doxxing: private details published without consent to expose or intimidate | Address, phone number, school or workplace all count | A classmate's phone number posted under a public video with "text him what you think" |
| Image abuse: sharing, threatening to share, or altering a private image without permission | Consent to send is not consent to forward | A photo of a friend asleep at a sleepover posted to a class story with a mocking caption |
Two other forms are exclusion (being left out of a group chat or game on purpose) and impersonation (a fake account posing as someone). Today you practise the three above.
This step is a quick warm-up so you read each situation carefully before you name the harm on the next step. Step 4 is the piece that goes in your Portfolio, so keep moving.
On the third card (the private photo), you can name the harm and the route without spelling out every detail. If you need to step back, tell the teacher.
This is the Portfolio piece. On the sheet, write the form of harm as harassment, doxxing, or image abuse (cyberbullying is the umbrella; these three are the forms).
Use a route that fits the harm: your school's reporting procedure, the platform's report function, or the Gardaí when an adult in school agrees the behaviour may be a crime. Save a copy into your Communication Portfolio as m2_l43_cyberbullying_recognition_<your-initials>.
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