Social peer violence in the digital environment - students’ attitudes and the possibility of prevention

Kostić, Jelena and Ranaldi, Valentina (2022) Social peer violence in the digital environment - students’ attitudes and the possibility of prevention. In: Children and the Challenges of the Digital Environment. Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research, Belgrade, pp. 83-96. ISBN 978-86-80756-48-6

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Abstract

In recent years, communication between children and young people has increasingly taken place in the digital environment. A large number of minors have their own profile on social networks, as well as applications for exchanging phone calls and messages (e.g. Viber). As a result, their exposure to violence in the digital environment is increasing. This type of violence is specific, and the lack of direct contact can be encouraging for potential abusers. In addition, in some forms of digital violence, the reaction of the victimized person may be absent, and its absence may encourage further violence or even other forms of violence against him. During the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, classes in schools were conducted online, and a measure of mandatory physical isolation was in force. This has certainly increased the use of social networks and messaging applications by children and young people. Starting from the assumption that in that period children were more exposed to victimization by peers in the digital environment, from April to June 2021 we conducted two surveys through an anonymous survey among primary school students in the Republic of Serbia aged ten to fourteen. The aim of one research was to gain insight into students ‘attitudes and attitudes towards verbal peer violence in digital environments, and the other was to gain insight into students’ attitudes and attitudes towards social peer violence in the same environment. This paper presents the results of another study. The basis for the assumptions from which we started were the researches of other authors, which we refer to in the first part of our paper. Based on the results of the research, we tried to give recommendations for the prevention of social peer violence in digital environments.

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