Page 68 - Security Today, November 2017

STUDENT SAFETY
BULLYING NO MORE
Bullying detection and technology playing new role in fight against student bullying at colleges By Derek Peterson
FOR MOST STUDENTS, COLLEGE IS SYNONYMOUS WITH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, FORGING NEW FRIENDSHIPS, PLAYING ON SPORTS TEAMS AND PURSUING YOUR CAREER ASPIRATIONS.
However, for some it may mean a period of time of bullying which could also include humiliation and alienation. Bullying affects everyone, from those who are victims to the bullies themselves, parents, professors and administrators. The key to preventing or reducing bullying in colleges is pro-activeness through the use of technology, which today is easily achieved through new available bully- ing detection software, applications and sens- ing devices. By leveraging these technologies, college administrators and security personnel are able to respond immediately, or investi- gate bullying incidents.
These tools allow for officials to appropri- ately address behaviors to prevent it from continuing as well as preventing the activity from escalating. Everything that can be done must be done to eliminate the potential for significant emotional and mental harm. It is well documented that bullying has the poten- tial to lead students to commit suicide. The loss of any student to suicide is a tragedy. Col- leges who do not take a proactive approach to student bullying are left vulnerable to devas- tating repercussions that include negative perceptions of students and prospective stu- dents, negative press, parental anger and con- cern, scrutiny and liability. In fact, there have been prior bullying incidents where K-12 schools and colleges have been sued by par- ents of bullied students. Some of these stories have made national headlines.
Bullying is not new; however with social media it has become more prevalent. The growth in bullying is making it much more paramount for colleges to be more vigilant in this fight. The National Center for Education- al Statistics reports that more than one out of every five (20.8%) students being bullied and Yale University studies show bully victims are two to nine times more likely to consider sui- cide than non-victims. there are many rea- sons behind why students tend to bully one another. These acts often stem from factors such as parental upbringing, exposure to vio-
lent television shows and movies, mistreat- ment and low self-esteem.
Before social media, bullying typically took place on school premises, with a student being “safe” from further harassment and harm upon returning to their dorm room. However, in today’s digital age world, bullying begins on campus and then follows students back to their rooms or homes via social media, leaving no escape or end in
sight. All too often we see students being bul- lied and harassed through social media posts. This results with the bullying evolving into cyberbullying and it taking on a life of its own, leaving bullied students publicly shamed, distressed and in despair, which if unaddressed, has been known to eventually become a life safety issue linked to risk of stu- dent suicide.
Cyberbullying has changed the nature of
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