Prof.
Dr.
Konstanze
Marx,
Professor
of
German
Linguistics
at
the
University
of
Mannheim,
will
be
visiting
the
University
of
Waterloo
to
give
a
lecture
on
cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is a form of digital violence that occurs mainly among young people. Unlike hate speech, in which individuals use invidious stereotyping to denigrate members of a group, cyberbullying involves members of a social group singling out and verbally attacking someone they know personally. Having a web presence (usually via social media) is but one aspect of such a group, and so the effects of online violence extend into the everyday lives of its victims, most often into their school lives. Cyberbullying has its own discourse. This lecture presents the typical structure of cyberbullying and recommends strategies for integrating anti-cyberbullying lessons into school instruction that can prevent verbal violence both online and face-to-face.