Brighi, Antonella

Culbert, Catherine

Fiedler, Nora

Guarini, Annalisa

Hamilton, Jayne

Mameli, Consuelo

Menin, Damiano

Purdy, Noel

Rowan, Anne

Scheithauer, Herbert

Smith, Peter K.

Völlink, T.

Willems, Roy A.

English

Welcome to this resource designed for pupils by young people across Europe as part of the Blurred Lives Project - a cross-national, co-participatory exploration of cyberbullying, young people and socio-economic disadvantage. The Blurred Lives Project focused on the online experiences of 14-16-year olds in schools in disadvantaged urban areas in Northern Ireland, England, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands and aims to facilitate pupil voice through the creation of resources for teachers, pupils, parents and social networking providers.The Blurred Lives Project is the first project in Europe to use a co-participatory approach and to initiate pupil-led development of resources based on what these pupils experience, how they define cyberbullying, and what they think interventions should look like.In the first phase of the project an online survey was completed by around 500 pupils in 5+ schools in each country and explored pupils’ online access and negative experiences. The second phase aimed to provide up-to-date resources for teachers, pupils and parents/carers, and make important recommendations to Social Networking Providers, building on ideas from the pupils themselves. This was done through a combination of Sequential Focus Groups, and Quality Circles, carried out intensively with two classes of 14-16-year-old pupils in each country (237 pupils in total)

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Open Universiteit www.ou.nl Comic BookCitation for published version (APA):Brighi, A., Mameli, C., Guarini, A., Menin, D., Völlink, T., Willems, R. A., ... Culbert, C. (2019). Comic Book:Intellectual Output 2 of Blurred Lives Project: A cross-national co-participatory exploration of cyberbullying,young people and socio-economic disadvantage. Belfast: Stranmillis University College.Document status and date:Published: 01/10/2019Document Version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPlease check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences betweenthe submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for thefinal version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.Link to publicationGeneral rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain• You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license above, pleasefollow below link for the End User Agreement:https://www.ou.nl/taverne-agreementTake down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us at:pure-support@ou.nlproviding details and we will investigate your claim.Downloaded from https://research.ou.nl/ on date: 01 Mar. 2020COMIC BOOK Antonella Brighi, Consuelo Mameli, Annalisa Guarini, Damiano Menin,Trijntje Völlink, Roy Willems, Herbert Scheithauer, Nora Fiedler, NoelPurdy, Jayne Hamilton, Anne Rowan, Peter K. Smith, & Catherine CulbertBrighi, A., Mameli, C., Guarini, A., Menin, D., Völlink, T., Willems, R. A., Scheithauer, H.,Fiedler, N., Purdy, N., Hamilton, J., Rowan, A., Smith, P.K., & Culbert, C. (2019) Comic Book(Intellectual Output 2 of Blurred Lives Project: a Cross-National Co-Participatory Explorationof Cyberbullying, Young People and Socio-Economic Disadvantage). Belfast: StranmillisUniversity College. Available online at: https://www.ou.nl/web/blurred-lives/resourcesCite this report as:A brief introduction to the blurred lives project Welcome to this resource designed for pupils by young people across Europe as part of theBlurred Lives Project - a cross-national, co-participatory exploration of cyberbullying, youngpeople and socio-economic disadvantage. The Blurred Lives Project focused on the onlineexperiences of 14-16-year olds in schools in disadvantaged urban areas in Northern Ireland,England, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands and aims to facilitate pupil voice through thecreation of resources for teachers, pupils, parents and social networking providers.The Blurred Lives Project is the first project in Europe to use a co-participatory approach andto initiate pupil-led development of resources based on what these pupils experience, howthey define cyberbullying, and what they think interventions should look like.In the first phase of the project an online survey was completed by around 500 pupils in 5+ schools in each country and explored pupils’ online access and negative experiences. The second phase aimed to provide up-to-date resources for teachers, pupils and parents/carers, and make important recommendations to Social Networking Providers, building on ideas from the pupils themselves. This was done through a combination of Sequential Focus Groups, and Quality Circles, carried out intensively with two classes of 14-16-year-old pupils in each country (237 pupils in total). The full range of original resources are available on the Blurred Lives Project website * and on the on the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform °. * https://www.ou.nl/web/blurred-lives/project° https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/projects/NOTEsThe comics you will find in this book have been redrawn, starting from the drawings made by the pupils, by a young professional cartoonist, Roberto d'Agnano (from Italy) working for the agency The Best Solutions Group SRL. On the Blurred Lives website you can find the original comics as they were designed by the young people involved in the project.This book contains resources for pupils, and more specifically contains examples of the comics produced by the pupils involved in the Quality Circles. Each story is aimed at raising awareness among young people of your age regarding the problem of cyberbullying and offers tools to combat it. You can read this book alone or, even better, with one or more friends. You could also show this book to some of your teachers and suggest that they use this resource during school classes. The comic bookCyberbullying: what does it mean?Most of the information you’ll find in this section has been provided by students from Belfast, Northern IrelandWhat is cyberbullying?Cyberbullying is bullying done online (for example, through the use of social media). Unlikeface-to-face bullying, it is not necessary for attacks to be repeated several times; even asingle online attack can lead to potentially negative consequences, which can sometimes bevery serious.Data collected within the Blurred Lives project (from a sample of more than2500 students) indicate that: 69.5% of young people spend at least 3 to 5 hours online daily; 24.5% of young people claim to have personally had nasty experiences online; 32.9% of young people have seen or heard of some nasty or unpleasant experiences happening to someone they know well on the Internet.If you’ve ever been a victim of cyberbullying, remember: you are not alone!Cyberbullying can come in many forms. Below are the most common ones:Flaming is the action of sending a hostile, angry, vulgar or offensive message to one or more people online, privately or publicly. There is talk of flame war when a first hostile message is followed by many others, in a sort of virtual fight.Harassment indicates the repeated sending of hostile messages to one or more people. It differs from flaming because of its repetitive nature.Cyberstalking is a form of online harassment that includes threats or intimidation.Denigration consists in sending or publishing harmful, false or cruel materials (e.g. statements, pictures) about one or more people.Impersonation (making a false profile) means the act of pretending to be someone else in sending or posting material that puts the person in a bad light, or puts him/her in danger.Outing (dissemination of private information) consists of sending or publishing sensitive, private or embarrassing material concerning a person (e.g. forwarding messages or private images to others).Who is involved in cyberbullying episodes?• The cyberbully: who carries out one of the aggressive online behaviours describedabove (e.g. harassment, denigration). S/he is often also a victim of online or offlinebullying.• The cybervictim: who suffers the online aggression. S/he is often also a victim of offlinebullying.• The public. The witnesses of cyberbullying episodes (for example, people readinghostile public posts). Depending on their behaviour, they can qualify as:• Bully's helpers: witnesses taking an active part in the online aggression, for exampleby teasing or insulting the victim, or by “liking” the bully's messages or forwardingthe message to someone else.• Defenders of the victim: witnesses who come to the victim's defence, for example bytelling the bullies to stop or reporting the episode.• Passive witnesses: witnesses not taking part, but who with their silence allow theepisodes of cyberbullying to continue.Why do people bully?There are lots of reasons why some people start bullying or cyberbullying others, including:• Maybe they haven’t learnt to respect difference e.g. race, religion, gender, disability;• Maybe they haven’t learnt how to resolve conflicts peacefully;• Maybe they have been bullied themselves and they are seeking revenge;• Maybe they come from homes where they witness violence and aggression and so itseems normal to behave like that.What are the effects of cyberbullying?Being a victim of cyberbullying can have serious negative consequences for:• Psychological well-being: victims of cyberbullying can feel sad or even depressed.• Social well-being: victims of cyberbullying can feel lonely and lose confidence andinterest in online and offline relations.• Physical health: victims of cyberbullying may have trouble sleeping, headaches or eatingproblems.• School performance: victims of cyberbullying are at risk of disengaging from school lifeor even dropping out.Comic titleAll or Nothing Created byGroup “Stay Safe and Strong”, St. Thomas More Language College (Chelsea, England)Comic titleEveryone can do something - Stop cyberbullying!Created byGroup “Dragon Cookies”, Gustave-Eiffel school (Berlin, Germany) Comic titleWe’re like books. Who goes beyond the cover?Created byGroup “Friends”, Fomalschool (Bologna, Italy) Comic titleAsk for Help if You're being Bullied Created byHelicon VMBO school (Eindhoven, The Netherlands)Cyberbullying: #let’s reflectLet’s reflect!What types of cyberbullying have been represented in the comics?Alone, in pairs or with a group of friends, try to identify which types of cyberbullying arerepresented in the comics drawn by the European students.ENGLAND_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________GERMANY_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ITALY_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The NETHERLANDS_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What emotions do cybervictims feel?Alone, in pairs or with a group of friends, try to identify which emotions are felt by thecybervictims represented in the comics drawn by the European students.ENGLAND_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________GERMANY_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ITALY_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The NETHERLANDS_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Some ways to deal with cyberbullying: suggestions from young people from all over Europe through the Blurred Lives Project:Block the cyberbully. In the comic “All or nothing”, Hunter, at the suggestion of an adult, blocks the contact who sent him offensive messages and in this way prevents him from sending other bad messages. This strategy is easy and useful as well. If you don't know how to block a contact, ask a friend or an adult you trust, or search on Google for how to do it: you'll definitely find suggestions.Close an account and create a new one. In the comic “All or nothing”, Hunter, at the suggestion of an adult, closes his account and creates a new one. This strategy can be effective in preventing the cyberbully from sending other insults.Talk to someone about it! In ALL the comics, the characters at some point decide to tell an adult, or a friend, their problem. Asking for help (from a friend, a trusted adult, a parent or a teacher) is a very effective strategy against cyberbullying. In fact, when we are victims of cyberbullying, we are often so sad or angry that it is difficult to think clearly. At other times, the problem is so serious that we simply can't do it alone.Don't stand by and watch! The role of friends is fundamental. In the comic “We’re like books. Who goes beyond the cover?”, Claire sees her friend Kevin in difficulty and, taking the situation in hand, reports what happened to a teacher. This example teaches us that we should not remain indifferent to bullying and cyberbullying: we must act, even when we are not the victims.Ask for help ... from an expert. In the comic “Everyone can do something”, Ella eventually turns to a therapist/counsellor to help her cope with her cyberbullying experience. After a bad experience, sometimes the help given by friends or parents is simply not enough to "get better". In these cases, it is perfectly normal (and smart, too!) to ask an expert for help. Respond directly to nasty comments. In the comic “We’re like books. Who goes beyond the cover?”, Kevin goes to talk to the bully after discovering his identity. This strategy, however, fuels the conflict and can lead to serious consequences, such as a fight. In this case, only the bully is expelled from the school. But are we sure that Kevin wouldn't have been expelled too?Self harm and suicide prevention informationIn the Dutch comic “Ask for help if you're being bullied”, the victim is so sad that she endsup thinking about suicide. Faced with particularly stressful and negative life events, such ascyberbullying, young people can feel so hopeless that they start to hurt themselves or tothink that life is meaningless. What challenging topics! ... Let's talk about them!Self-harm is when a person hurts him/herself as a way of dealing with very difficult feelings, painful memories or overwhelming situations and experiencesSuicide is when a person intentionally causes their own death.If you have recently been self-harming, or if you frequently think about suicide, remember: this is never your only option. Don't keep this “secret”; there is nothing wrong in feeling bad. Talk to an adult or a friend you trust and ask him/her for help. There is always a solution, even for the most complex and painful problems.If you know (or strongly suspect) that one of your friends has recently been self-harming, or that s/he is thinking about suicide, remember: you can make a difference by supporting him/her. Here are some tips for you: Do not judge your friend, and do not minimize his/her problems with sentences such as “you're exaggerating" or "everything will be fine“. Listen to your friend and support him/her. Don’t keep the secret, even if your friend asked you to. Self harm and thinking about suicide are very serious issues and you can't handle the situation alone, no matter how smart you are. Seek help from an adult you trust (a parent, a teacher or a school counsellor), and do it as soon as possible.Cyberbullying: #whattodoTips FROM young people from ALL OVER EUROPELet’s prevent cyberbullying!Anyone can be a victim of cyberbullying! However, it is possible in some casesto reduce the risk of being subjected to online aggression by using some usefulstrategies.Do not leave your phone unattended or unlockedChoose smart passwords and don't use the same password for different sites / platformsNever provide information to unknown or anonymous usersOther ideas:___________________________________________________________________________Never send, post or share  compromising or embarrassing data, information, images or videosOther ideas:___________________________________________________________________________Be smart!If you’re a victim of cyberbullyingGet informed and use the resources offered by your school or the InternetTalk about it with someone (for example a friend or an adult you trust)Look at the glass half full! Your life is not just about bad thingsOther ideas:___________________________________________________________________________Do not respond to nasty comments: it is useless and can make things worseOther ideas:___________________________________________________________________________Block / report the cyberbully onlineIf necessary, change your account and/or user profileBe smart!If you witness cyberbullyingOther ideas:___________________________________________________________________________Don't stand by and watch! Report the incident to an adult or to the social network reporting systemDon't follow the crowd: don't join in teasing, don't laugh at them ... it's not funny!Other ideas:___________________________________________________________________________Support your friends who are victims of cyberbullying and try to convince them to ask for helpOther ideas:___________________________________________________________________________Be smart!The end

Comic Book:Intellectual Output 2 of Blurred Lives Project: A cross-national co-participatory exploration of cyberbullying, young people and socio-economic disadvantage

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Comic Book:Intellectual Output 2 of Blurred Lives Project: A cross-national co-participatory exploration of cyberbullying, young people and socio-economic disadvantage

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