Comparing and Contrasting Anti-Cyberbullying Resources

Figure 1 - The Lost Summer

According to Bower (2017), Cyberbullying is a concern that arises when using social networking systems for educational purposes. Consequently, pre-emptive education plays an important role in maintaining a student’s cybersafety (DeSmet et al., 2015). The Australian Government’s ‘eSafety Commissioner’ website hosts a number of resources to combat cyberbullying that are intended for use and consumption by

Figure 2 - Rewrite your Story 

children and teens in an educational context (https://www.esafety.gov.au). Two examples are the role playing video game ‘The Lost Summer’ and video series ‘Rewrite Your Story’. While both resources seek to use empathy to educate high school students about the dangers of cyberbullying and prepare them to deal with its impact in their life, they do so utilising significantly different mediums and methods.

Figure 3 - The Lost Summer, Chapter Summary

A key feature of both The Lost Summer and Rewrite Your Story is their use of empathy to teach about the issue of Cyberbullying. Bullying has been linked to a lack of empathy and studies have suggested that empathy training can be used to reduce bullying behaviours (Hicks, Le Clair & Berry, 2016).

In the educational game The Lost Summer, students are confronted with a challenges such as social media conflict and fake news, students need to use various skills in order to support other characters, progress through the game and overcome challenges. Empathy, according to the eSafety Commissioner, is an aspect of ‘Digital Intelligence’ that is a key focus of the game. Students are taught about ‘being empathetic to others and using emotional intelligence to respect opinions, embrace diversity of opinion and freedom of speech’ (eSafety Commissioner,  n.d.).  

Figure 4 - Summary of Rewrite your Story Episode: Alexia's Story

Similarly, Rewrite your Story, is a video based program that uses empathy to educate high school students about cyberbullying. The program entails students exploring real-life cyberbullying stories that provide advice on how to handle difficult situations. Students also engage in class based activities that promote empathy through self-reflection and discussion. The program is designed to provide guidance when needed so students are empowered to be ‘courageous in the face of cyberbullying’ and provide help and support to their friends (eSafety Commissioner,  n.d.)

While The Lost Summer and Rewrite your Story are similar in their focus on empathy as a vehicle for learning, they differ in the medium used to engage high school students. The Lost Summer could be considered a ‘serious game’, one that is designed ‘to be both entertaining and provide instruction, training or achieve attitude change’ (Blumberg, Almonte, Anthony, & Hashimoto, 2013). Students access the game via a computer or mobile device and play as various characters, representing young people and completing quests assigned to them. The game format is designed to provide a learning environment that enables students to rehearse real-life scenarios and challenges safely (eSafety Commissioner,  n.d.). ‘Serious games’ have been shown by studies to be ‘effective in promoting healthy lifestyles’ and have been successfully used in a range of other anti-cyberbullying interventions. (DeSmet et al., 2018).

Figure 5 - Screenshort example of The Lost Summer gameplay

Rewrite your Story differs in its use of video and self-reflection as a medium to explore the issue of cyberbullying. The program involves students watching a series of two minute video clips that presents a story of cyberbullying narrated from the point of view of the young person involved. Students then engage in an interactive online quiz that breaks down the issue presented in the video and promotes self-reflection. The choice of video as a medium is interesting, as Doane, Kelley & Pearson (2015) point out, cyberbullying prevention programs have largely relied on in‐person instruction. However videos have been used in a range of prevention programs across other fields and prevention programs that include videos have been shown to be effective in increasing empathy toward victims (Doane, Kelley & Pearson, 2015).   

Figure 6 - Extract from Rewrite your Story, Teacher Materials

In all, The Lost Summer and Rewrite your Story provide good examples of anti-cyberbullying resources that use very similar methods to help students understand the issue and yet do so through very different mediums. While promoting empathy is the common utilised by both to engage students and help them understand the personal impact of cyberbullying, the former achieves this through the use of a ‘serious’ game while the latter do so through video and self-reflection.   

References

Bower, M. (2017). Design of technology-enhanced learning - Integrating research and practice. London, UK: Emerald Publishing.

Blumberg, F. C., Almonte, D. E., Anthony, J. S., & Hashimoto, N. (2012). Serious games: What are they? What do they do? Why should we play them? The Oxford handbook of media psychology, 334-351. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398809.013.0019.

eSafety Commissioner (n.d) Education Resources. Retrieved October 15, 2019, From https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources

DeSmet, A., Bastiaensens, S., Cleemput, K., van Poels, K., Vandebosch, H., Deboutte, G., ... de Bourdeaudhuij, I. (2018). The efficacy of the Friendly Attac serious digital game to promote prosocial bystander behavior in cyberbullying among young adolescents: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. Computers in Human Behavior, 78, 336–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.011

Doane, A. N., Kelley, M. L., & Pearson, M. R. (2016). Reducing cyberbullying: A theory of reasoned action-based video prevention program for college students. Aggressive Behavior, 42, 136–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21610.

Hicks, J. F., Le Clair, B., & Berry, S. (2016). Using solution-focused dramatic empathy training to eliminate cyber-bullying. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 11(3–4), 378–390. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2016.1172533.