Bond University will host a Cyber Bullying Symposium this Friday, July 23, in an ongoing effort to enhance the community’s understanding of an increasingly invasive new form of bullying.
The Cyber Bullying Symposium is expected to attract more than 100 people from local Gold Coast schools, communities, families, and students.
The community will have the opportunity to hear from academic experts about the technological, psychological, and legal aspects that contribute to cyber bullying and to better understand the issue.
Panel participant and Associate Professor of Computer Games and Multimedia and leading multi-media expert Dr Jeff Brand will explore the characteristics and future of social media, as well as outline the nature of cyber bullying.
“The Gold Coast has a very high rate of social networking users; therefore, for the Gold Coast community cyber bullying is a matter worthy of attention and debate,” said Dr Brand.
“Attendees will learn the nature of online media, the instances and types of cyber bullying, and the similarities between cyber bullying and other types of bullying such as workplace and schoolyard bullying,” he said.
Faculty of Law Senior Teaching Fellow Dr Iain Field will address the legal aspects of cyber bullying, by answering questions regarding the legal risks of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to schools.
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Assistant Professor and Clinic Director Dr Dee Bartum will present an overview of psychological impacts and issues associated with cyber bullying, in particular, how cyber bullying affects the mental health of young people.
In April of this year, a Bond University student-run anti-bullying campaign was lead by Associate Professor of Management and Director of the LEAP Research Centre Dr Amy Kenworthy.
“The ‘One Goal, One Community’ initiative actively engaged over 10,800 people from the local community, proving not only that we all want to pull together to move beyond bullying, but also that an effective approach to move forward is through education and communication,” she said.
At the symposium, Dr Kenworthy will present the campaign’s framework for involvement and discuss how similar initiatives can be implemented in other communities.
Teachers who attend the Symposium will have the opportunity to obtain professional development recognition, and will be presented with certificates.