Cyberbullying Campaigns in Spain

Cyberbullying is a type of harassment which has impacted in an influential way in today’s society. In summary it is the use of the technological means in order to exert the psychological harassment between equals. The main factor of this problem is the social networks and education that youth are receiving today, because there is no controlled use of such networks. When we talk about youth, we refer to the definition that the UN has imposed: Youth is the stage between the ages of 15 and 24, when the identity and personality of the person is built.

“With the new Organic Law proposed 8/2015 of July 22 establishes specifically, aspects relating to the general education of children within their nearest social environment: At home, in school and in the family. Each child, and always in relation to the degree of maturity, is wanted to acquire a social responsibility in which the environment and social diversity are respected”. (Patricia Peyró, 2015).

This is a fact that we should all take into account: children are not always protected by parents, and in some situations they do not know how to react themselves. Therefore, they need an adult intermediary for this type of abuse situation to be stopped. During the years of development of the minors, the parental figure such as the teaching staff of the schools exert a great influence on them, since they are the ones in charge of educating and transmitting the values and ethical concepts.

The fact that teenagers discredit others of the same age is not right and less, the right thing. Normally, when a stalker harasses someone because of the education they receive from their parents, the social environment in him is surrounded by the child or even the maturity he or she develops. Having as a result, the state of insecurity on the part of the victim whatever the place because it is going to be recognized and be harassed. Therefore, social networks in their part must be aware of the inconvenience they generate and, what solutions they can give.

According to Rodríguez López in his book “The Moral Harassment”, they define these people as resentful, frustrated, jealous or selfish where they need the desire of protagonist to be able to appear and ascend, when in fact the only intention that moves him is to hurt.

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In this graph what is to be shown is if the parents and the society knows about the circumstances involved in the cyberbullying and, if they are really informed about this problem. In the first column, data are collected from parents who recognize that their children are going through this type of harassment. The average of all countries results in 12%, with India first and Spain and France as the last. This means that the Spanish parents are the ones who least recognize a situation of cyberbullying in their homes.

In the next column, the opposite happens because it reflects the recognition of parents about cases of harassment through social networks. The average of all countries results in 26%, a figure that exceeds twice the average of the previous column. Although Spain continues to position itself as the last country with a low percentage of cyberbullying, it does not mean that this is always the case since we have made a comparison with the rest of the countries of the world, but if we compare it with the European countries, it tops the list together With Romania.

These data are in a certain part subjective, since only the data of the young people who recognize that they have suffered are collected in graphs, so we cannot really obtain a certain comparison of all the places in the world.

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As I said before, Spain tops the list together with Romania of the countries with the highest percentage of cyberbullying. This may be because in recent years the development of electronic devices has grown to such an extent that the mobile has become the main tool for use. Many studies emphasize the majority of electronic devices have been increasing in households, except the desktop, since in 2012 launched a new product more affordable and renewed that was the Tablet.

In the case of the mobile phone, each year is adapted to the needs of the consumer. In fact, the latter has increased by 5% the use of devices. If we see the figures shown by the newspaper Expansión, 96% of the Spanish population has a mobile phone and that, of those, 87% are smartphones. Of all the population that Spain has, 35.8 million users connect to the Internet via their mobile phone. So the motive is the most used tool and, it is also the one where the majority of the cases occurs about the cyberbullying.

The Spanish connection to the Internet has gone from 69.8% in 2013 to 85% in 2018. Of those 85, 8% use social networks every day. If we compared this data with the study carried out by the Ministry of the Interior in 2014, we realize that the use of the Internet practised by children between 10 and 15 years is 92.3%, while the percentage of women of the same age is 91%. Although the difference between percentages is minimal. There’s a curious fact. As children with the most access to the Internet and social networks, girls are beyond the availability of mobile phones to the opposite gender. On the other hand, young males who respond at an age of between 16 and 24 use the Internet 99.2% instead, women employ it with 97%. This study shows that the connectivity of young people is not only based on the use of social networks, but also used in forums and blogs.

In short, the Spanish consume an average of almost 6 hours online, of which the greatest time is lost in social networks. That is why, in recent years, the cyberbullying has been increasing because of the media, because it is presence is intense and we depend entirely on them (Görzig and Frumkin, 2013). There is an ignorance and immaturity when publishing content on social networks, since they are registered on the servers and is very difficult to eliminate. So, they create a profile that really in the future doesn’t resemble you.

The data collected by the Mapfre Foundation, establishes that both Spain and Romania are countries whose use of social networks and the Internet is addictive, since the average consumption that a Spanish devotes to social networks or the Internet is 4 and a half days a day. A worrying fact, is that we dedicate 24 minutes more than the previous year.

But it is not the only study that leads Spain against the rest of the countries. The data made by Microsoft establish that of the 25 countries that are in the image, Spain is one with an average percentage. The study shows that 37% of Spanish adolescents have suffered harassment, of which 17% admit having received a wrong treatment, 13% have been teased and 19% claim to have insulted.

Also, that 19% admit having committed cyberbullying to someone and 46% have harassed, but outside the network. The study also states that the chances of being harassed in the networks double when the harasser is also harassed. That is, 74% of those who mock and harass third parties also suffer cyberbullying, compared to 37% who do not suffer. In the case of children, 51% consume more than 10 hours per week on the Internet, so there is a greater chance of being harassed online, compared to 29% who consume less hours browsing.

The analysis was made to 7,600 adolescents, between 8-17 years. These analyses show that youth are aware of the seriousness of this type of harassment. Regarding the information they receive or know, 63% of young people know something about cyberbullying, up to 81% say they are worried about this situation, and 19% of respondents admit having harassed someone through a social network. Normally, people who receive this type of harassment usually perform physically, but there is still a percentage of online harassment.

According to data from 2012, Spain receives 6% of online harassment. The same studies carried out by Microsoft emphasize that the most frequented social network in harassing is Facebook with 60%. This percentage can be associated with what the free thinker Noam Chomsky thinks about this social network. He states that Facebook alters human relationships in a negative way. Both the new technologies and social networks are isolating people in such a way that as a result there is a separation between them.

Second, mobile devices and chats are 40%, third, email 32%, instant messaging 32%. Here the freethinker states that most of society uses the internet as a form of entertainment, but there is a minority that uses it to obtain information. Those who use it as a form of entertainment, quickly locate their favourite pages and that is why they visit them constantly, as their own ideas are reinforced. The constant entry in these pages makes people become more addicted and there is no interest in looking at others, so both the social network you access and the people themselves become more extreme and end up isolating themselves from others.

 other websites 20% and other electronic devices 9%. Seeing these percentages, the social network of Facebook should consider generating certain solutions presents one of the lowest rates of cyberbullying in Europe. From the data of 2012 to the current ones, the social network most harassed by teenagers is WhatsApp with almost 40%.

Online harassment in Spain had a percentage of 37%, that is, 37 of every 100 children were being harassed using their stalker or stalkers from a social network or another form of online communication. The figure is alarming, because this study was conducted between February 2011 and January 2012, so the number of cyberbullying victims has been growing. Since the publication of these data to date, the percentage of minors harassed in the network in one way or another, has increased considerably, since according to Esther Oliver and Tatiana Santos (2015) the percentage of children between 8 and 12 Years that he felt or had been harassed through some social network amounted to an incredible 86%.

In Spain, as in the rest of the world, only the most dramatic are known in the cases of cyberbullying (Planas Juan Antonio, 2013). This is due to several reasons, one of them is the shame that minors can sometimes feel when dealing with these problems with an adult, so it is important to create a climate of trust with minors, so that, in any in case of need, the child or adolescent is able to transmit your problem clearly and sincerely.

References:https://elpais.com/elpais/2016/02/18/media/1455822566_899475.html

According to this graph, it includes an analysis of percentages about victimization and aggression according to gender. As you can see the female gender receives more cyberbullying than the opposite sex. The result is that the most to use the internet to harm others is the male gender with 8% compared to 3% of the girls.

Within this percentage there are also differences in the number of children who carry out this harassment according to age: we find a maximum of boys who at the age of 16 harass others. Most of this type of behaviour occurs at puberty and adolescence. Therefore, young people of 16 years who perform cyberbullying to other children their age begin with face-to-face harassment in their own school or on the street, and then move to a social network and continue with this harassment (Coburn, Connolly and Roesch, 2015). However, if we look at the percentage of girls who say they have suffered bullying, in this case the number is higher than that of the boys, and this is because according to some studies, the risk of cyberbullying increases if you are a woman (Elena Mengual, 2013).

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If we gather all the data provided previously, and add it to this graph, it gives us as a result the percentage of children victims of cyberbullying in the different Autonomous Communities of Spain. Andalusia leads the list with the highest percentage of cyberbullying in Spain, while the lowest percentage is for Cantabria. It must be borne in mind that these figures depend on the amount of population in each Autonomous Community. But, even so, the results show that the tool most used by users is the mobile phone with 90%, followed by computers/ tablets with 20%. As I said before, the social media that most use the stalkers is WhatsApp with 80.9%, followed by other social networks where Facebook leads with 36.2%. These results are not only found in Spain, but also in several countries, such as France and the United Kingdom.

That is why, and due to the alarming figures that Spain has on this problem, several organizations have carried out actions such as advertising campaigns to try to end this problem at the root. Although Andalusia shows the highest percentage of cyberbullying, still no organization has created a campaign in this Autonomous Community, which is why it is more difficult to empathize and raise awareness among the Andalusian population. Most of the campaigns are carried out in Madrid, as a point of reference to reach the other communities. The advertising campaign against cyberbullying that has had the most impact has been one that has created Pantallas Amigas.

Pantallas Amigas, is an organization whose main function is the safe promotion of social media. On its page you can find news related to the topic of cyberbullying, as well as tips, resources and a practical guide for people who may be suffering from this harassment. In addition to this, in Pantallas Amigas they offer you a way of contact for any need or suggestion.

Spain being aware of the seriousness of the harassment perceived in social networks, several organizations have taken steps to make society empathize with the victims who suffer. One of the best-known campaigns was created by Pantallas Amigas and the defender of the rights of minors.

This campaign aims to reach a greater number of people. That is why, that campaign will be spread throughout the Madrid subway through six spots. As I said before, your intention is to raise awareness and reach empathize with the ad, so the campaign is recreated in cartoons that warn of the dangers that social networks can have and encourage victims to go to a adult or someone who can defend them from this situation. The campaign also warns of the consequences of hanging certain images or personal information without previously configuring the privacy options.

If we describe the advertising spot, the animated episodes of it have been created with the intention of capturing the attention to the targeted audience, that is, the teenagers. That is why the use of colours and music, although the advertisement does not have a long duration, has a deep message. That is, cyberbullying harms both the victim and the harasser, since both suffer the consequences of such harassment.

 In one of the six spots, it is advisable not to respond to the provocations on the part of the stalker, because it provokes a greater confrontation and the victim will lose in that situation. Therefore, the spot encourages victims to get in touch with a trusted adult to receive help to avoid these situations.

According to Arturo Canalda, the child defender in Madrid says, “to make parents and children aware of the importance of using the new technologies properly, we must be very careful”. Canalda points out that the excessive publication of information in a network is not advisable, since privacy is a very important factor and is being lost.

But not only this spot has had good opinions, another example is Perspectives. The advertising campaign created by Movistar mobile telephony. The campaign has a double narration to tell the story through the camera of a mobile. In the spot you will find two different points of view, one the normal life and the other the reality that we do not perceive. The message that the announcement leaves is quite clear, “the problem is that we do not see the problem”.

The cyberbullying to be a technological problem and whose method of employment is usually through the mobile phone. Companies like Movistar try to make the public use the technological means in a responsible way, since sometimes they can be harmful.

Perspectivas is the story of a teenager, divided into two totally parallel time spaces, which the user can choose which situation to choose. The first space where the story takes place, takes place in the school where said adolescent receives both physical and virtual harassment. In contrast, the second space gives place in your home and shows the changes in behaviour, due to the situation you are going through. As I said before, the two points of view are intertwined with just turning the mobile. The message that the mobile company wants is for adults and teenagers to interact with the problem.

The concern that the country has about the problem is so great that they no longer only take out advertising campaigns, but they have created a new association against cyberbullying. This association is called Stop Haters.

Stop Haters is a non-profit association, based in Madrid, whose main objective is the complete free of charge of its services; from lawyers to a team of psychologists. Although it is in its infancy, Stop Haters intends that within a year there will be financing that is sufficiently affordable so that free assistance can be created. For now, free assistance goes to what they cannot afford, the rest must pay, but they are charged half.

In the end all Spanish associations and organizations aim to look like the British organization Think You Know, as it promotes a large audience and generates great empathy for those who suffer.

This British program, in addition to offering training in the classroom to try to prevent children and their families from the great dangers that the network has. It has made the number of victims denounce and expose their circumstances in a more open manner. If we speak in percentages, practically the complaints have increased by 80%, so the results are very favorable (Cristina Pulido and Ramón Flecha, 2008).

Think You Know, is a Web page where they expose a wide information, counting with videos and photos, besides cartoons to try that this awareness reaches all the ages, because to all, in some way or another, it can affect this problem. In addition to this, the page has the Report Abuse space, where anyone can report any offensive content anonymously, thus giving more freedom and confidence to minors to do so.

Bibliography:

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