Young people's voices on cyber bullying: what can age comparisons tell us

This is a report of a youth-led research study, commissioned by the Diana Award. It illuminates contemporary experiences of and attitudes towards cyber bullying, with a particular focus on age comparisons between older and younger youth. This is the largest survey carried out on cyber bullying in England to date that has been steered by young people themselves. It consisted of: one large survey, two online surveys and four focus groups, carried out from September 2009 to July 2011. In total, it encompassed the views of 1,512 young people in England (consisting of 1490 pupils who completed the surveys and 22 who designed the research). It provides a a clearer understanding of the nature and prevalence of cyber bullying among young people and recommends effective ways to strengthen preventative action

Bullying and Cyberbullying: Their Legal Status and Use in Psychological Assessment

Bullying and cyberbullying have severe psychological and legal consequences for those involved. However, it is unclear how or even if previous experience of bullying and cyberbullying is considered in mental health assessments. Furthermore, the relevance and effectiveness of current legal solutions has been debated extensively, resulting in a desire for a specific legislation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological and legal components of bullying and cyberbullying. This is a qualitative research that includes interviews with five practitioner psychologists and four lawyers in the United Kingdom (UK). Thematic analysis revealed three main themes. One theme is related to the definition, characteristics, and impact of bullying and cyberbullying and the need for more discussion among the psychological and legal professions. Another theme is related to current professional procedures and the inclusion of questions about bullying and cyberbullying in psychological risk assessments. The third theme emphasised the importance of intervention through education. Two key messages were highlighted by the lawyers: ample yet problematic legislation exists, and knowledge will ensure legal success. The study recommends the necessity of performing revisions in the clinical psychological practices and assessments, and the legal policies regarding bullying and cyberbullying. In addition to improving legal success, this will reduce bullying prevalence rates, psychological distress, and psychopathology that can be comorbid or emerge as a result of this behaviour

Understanding child and adolescent cyberbullying

Global development of digital technologies has provided considerable connectivity benefits. However, connectivity of this scale has presented a seemingly unmanageable number of potential risks to psychological harm especially experienced by children and adolescents; one such risk is cyberbullying. This chapter will initially address the origins of bullying, leading into an overview of cyberbullying. A review of the unique characteristics of online communication will shed light on the ongoing debate concerning cyberbullying being potentially more than an extension of traditional bullying. Current research findings encompassing prevalence, types of behavior, consequences, and the roles within cyberbullying activity will be discussed to guide future interventions to reduce the risk of vulnerability for children and adolescents. In parallel, this chapter also considers the relative and perhaps distorted risk perception that young people have of becoming a cybervictim. Finally, this chapter acknowledges current understanding to support future digital and social evolvement.N/

Cyberbullying: insights and age comparisons from a youth-led study in England

Abstract This paper discusses the findings of a youth-led study into the nature and prevalence of cyberbullying. Over 1,500 young people participated in the research which compared the experiences of two age groups - 12–13 year-olds and 14–15 year-olds - in nine regions of England. The dissipation of adult-youth power relations resulting from data accessed youth-to-youth and the foregrounding of young people’s insider perspectives enabled amore nuanced understanding of the issues to be generated. 40 % of the older youth group and 35 % of the younger age group reported being affected by cyberbullying. Results indicated age differentiators around risk statuses, coping strategies and skill-sets. Older youth were shown to experience higher levels of cyberbullying and aggressive methods, use peer-to-peer support and independent means such as internet provider reporting procedures to address the problem. Younger youth faced more discrete and traditional forms of cyberbullying, exhibited less knowledge for self-protection, and were more likely to seek help from parents

The design and synthesis of an antibacterial phenothiazine-siderophore conjugate

Siderophore-antibiotic conjugates consist of an antibiotic covalently linked by a tether to a siderophore. Such conjugates can demonstrate enhanced uptake and internalisation to the bacterial cell resulting in significantly reduced MIC values and extended spectrum of activity. Phenothiazines are a class of small molecules that have been identified as a potential treatment for multidrug resistant tuberculosis and latent TB. Herein we report the design and synthesis of the first phenothiazine-siderophore conjugate. A convergent synthetic route was developed whereby the functionalised phenothiazine component was prepared in four steps and the siderophore component also prepared in four steps. In M. smegmatis the functionalised phenothiazine demonstrated an equipotent MIC value in direct comparison to the parent phenothiazine from which it was derived. The final conjugate was synthesised by amide bond formation between the two components and global deprotection of the PMB protecting groups to unmask the catechol iron chelating groups of the siderophore. The synthesis is readily amenable to the preparation of analogues whereby the siderophore component of the conjugate can be modified. The route will be used to prepare a library of siderophore-phenothiazine conjugates for full biological evaluation of much needed new antibacterial agents

Why research by children?:Rethinking the assumptions underlying the facilitation of children as researchers

Research ‘by’ children, where children conduct research as primary investigators, may be seen as an ideal form of children’s participation in research. This paper examines the methodological and normative assumptions that underlie such research and identifies some ambiguities which require clarification and questions which need answering for better theorisations of its purposes and more robust evaluations of the associated research practices to occur. It concludes that tensions between these assumptions and the research practices mean the role of children as ‘researchers’ has been limited while further explorations of the potentials of research ‘by’ children need stronger reflexivity