Bullying and Cyber-Bullying in Higher Education: Current Institutional Practice and Prevention

Abstract

Cyber-bullying led a Rutgers University student to commit suicide, which led the Federal government and institutions of higher education to take a closer look at bullying and cyber-bullying on college campuses. Congress introduced the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act (Tyler Clementi Act) that would require institutions that receive Federal financial aid to provide anti-bullying programming on their campuses. This study examined the bullying related policies and practices at five public research universities. Specifically, interviews were conducted with both the Chief Student Affairs Officer and Chief Conduct Officer at each institution to examine their perceptions of the judicial and programmatic efforts to reduce bullying and cyber-bullying on their campuses. In addition, the research asked about their preparedness if the Tyler Clementi Act would become law. Significant research has been conducted on bullying at the K-12 level but there is very little research on the prevalence of bullying at the college level. This study indicates that administrators perceive, and have even witnessed, bullying on their campuses. Despite recognizing the existence of bullying on their campus, only one institution has instituted any type of proactive efforts to address bullying on their campus. The other four institutions are more reactive. In addition, very little change occurred following the death of Clementi, yet all administrators interviewed believe strongly that their institution would be in compliance with the basic components of the Tyler Clementi Act if it were enacted. After a review of current practices at each of these five campuses, several recommendations are suggested to improve anti-bullying efforts at institutions of similar size, including, but not limited, to: an institutional-wide effort to provide proactive programming efforts for all sub-groups of the student population, formal assessment and stronger awareness and involvement of the Chief Student Affairs Officer.