P307 Dissemination of good practice: an italian project to contrast cyberbullying

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood 2019-06, Vol.104 (Suppl 3), p.A280
• Main Authors: Pulvirenti, Giuliana, Michele Vismara, Marco Flavio, Vismara, Stefano Alessandro, Vismara, Roberta Elisabetta, Meschesi, Viviana, Moroni, Valeria, Lavano, Serena Maria, Toaff, Joseph, Rapetto, Umberto, Cemicetti, Riccardo, Settanni, Chiara, Zepponi, Barbara, Landolfi, Nicola, Valentini, Antonio, Marotta, Rosa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Bullying; Childrens health; Cyberbullying; Data collection; Extracurricular activities; Feedback; Grooming; Pediatrics; Questionnaires; Students; Teacher Workshops; Teaching Methods; Teenagers; Workshops
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2019-epa.656

IntroductionThe way children use the Internet and mobile technologies has changed in the last few years according to the Digital Agenda for Europe. The growing phenomenon of cyberbullying is among the risks associated with the increasing Internet use. Methods of access and use by teenagers are highly important factors in assessing those risks.Materials and methodsIn order to fight cyberbullying we have developed a strategy with the approval of the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences of the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro consisting in three phases: a) Data collection and review b) Critical analysis c) Dissemination.a) We expanded our previous study (2017) with a new cluster; a questionnaire specifically developed to investigate cyberbullying and cyber-grooming among the teenage population. This new cluster, proposed by the ‘Cyber Expert’ program created by the Spanish Policia Nacional, is structured to gauge the students’ awareness and knowledge of what cyberbullying is. We submitted this updated survey to students of the Liceo Scientifico ‘G. Keplero’ in Rome, while also inviting them to provide their feedback on the study itself.b) We reviewed and published the questionnaire as a preprint. The data we gathered strongly hinted at the need for surveys and informational material to use language and concepts adolescents could relate to.c) In order to disseminate our results we will create programs focused on and carefully tuned to our reference population (teenagers) i.e. teacher workshops, informational posters, and extracurricular activities.ResultsWe were happy to find unexpected feedback; students were interested in the results of our survey. Both teachers (60%) and students (80%) showed a significant amount of interest in being advised on the outcome. Although the same sample population had been subject to several other questionnaires in the same timeframe, they only showed interest in following up on our results.ConclusionsMoving forward, we are now thinking of ways to share our results with the school community and start the third phase of the program. The next phase will focus on creating posters and informational materials on the most relevant points, as well as organizing teacher workshops in order to raise awareness on relevant topics.