COST IS0801 "Cyberbullying"

COST ACTION IS0801
Cyberbullying: coping with negative and enhancing positive uses of new technologies, in relationships in educational settings

http://sites.google.com/site/costis0801/
 
Aim of COST ACTION IS0801
The main aim of the Action is to share expertise on cyberbullying in educational settings, coping with negative and enhancing positive uses of new technologies in the relationships area, moving towards a common set of guidelines applicable in Europe.
What is 'Cyberbullying'?
Cyberbullying refers to bullying and harassment of others by means of new electronic technologies, primarily mobile phones and the internet.  There has been much research and action on traditional forms of bullying in schools, with some success, but cyberbullying has arisen and increased in the last few years.  Researchers, pupils, parents, teachers, unions, and local, regional and national authorities, are all in various ways starting to grapple with the issues involved in cyberbullying, in consultation with mobile phone companies and internet service providers.  There are also positive uses of new technologies for relationships in schools; for example, using a school intranet for peer support services.
Main objectives of COST IS0801
1. Sharing of developing expertise in knowledge base and measurement techniques across researchers (comparisons of the nature of cyberbullying across different countries; measurement instruments for different purposes; linguistic issues in translation)
2. Sharing of input from outside the research community; specifically, from legal experts (e.g. on rights regarding privacy, anonymity, defamation etc on the internet); and from mobile phone companies and internet service providers (on present and feasible actions, new technological developments, etc).
3. Sharing of already nationally published guidelines, and recommended coping strategies, in different countries, including positive uses of new technologies in the relationships area; moving towards a common set of guidelines applicable for the European Community.
4. Increased awareness of the issue, and of the outcomes of the Action, to likely beneficiaries of the Action.
 

Chair
Peter K. Smith, Professor
Head, Unit for School and Family Studies
Department of Psychology
Goldsmiths, University of London,
London SE14 6NW, UK
p.smith@gold.ac.uk
 
Vice - Chair
Georges Steffgen, Professor
University of Luxembourg
Campus Walferdange, route de Diekirch
Walferdange Luxembourg
georges.steffgen@uni.lu
 
Bulgarian National Representative
Dr. Katia Mihailova
University of National and World Economy
8 December Str. Studentski grad
1700 Sofia, Bulgaria
katiajivkova@yahoo.com
 
Participant countries 
There are 27 participating COST countries : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Kingdom. Two NON-COST countries : Australia, Ukraine
 
Timetable and Management
The Action formally started on October 22nd 2008, and lasts for 4 years. The activities of the Action are organized by a Management Committee and Core Group. Currently 24 countries are represented on the Management Committee.