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OurBlook interview with Prof. Mary Muscari, associate professor and director of the O'Connor Office for Rural Studies at the Decker School of Nursing, Binghamton University
 Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, called for new federal laws to define and deal with cyberbullying and cyberharassment.Do you think such laws are necessary or unnecessary, and why? If such laws would be good, what might they say, and what would be the drawbacks and/or difficulties in composing them?
MM: Cyberbullying (also called electronic aggression) may be more harmful than traditional bullying because the victim feels that there is no escape. The bullying can take place any time of day or night and anywhere the child has a communication device, including the child's bedroom, which should be a place of safety. Hurtful material may be posted globally and become irretrievable. Unlike victims of school-yard bullying, victims of cyberbullying may not know the identity of the bully, creating frustration, fear and feelings of helplessness. However, the laws would probably be difficult to develop. We want to protect potential victims, but we also do not want to destroy the lives of the young perpetrators. (Adults who target children are another story. They should face stiffer charges and penalties, and their crimes should not be classified as bullying.) Laws should be carefully constructed and would require collaboration among legal, law enforcement, child mental health, technology and other professionals.
You have written extensively on cyberbullying. What prompted you to do so, and can you cite any specific examples of harm to people that such laws would try to prevent?
MM: My writing includes cyberbullying, as I focus on youth violence. But I was prompted both by cases I read in the media and problems I have heard from parents (all parents of victimized children or who were concerned about victimization.) The cases that concern me most are those where adults are perpetrators and others where the victim committed suicide after being victimized.
How can parents spot signs of cyberbullying that may affect their children?
MM: Victims of cyberbullying suffer the same effects as those who are victimized by traditional bullying. Victims may exhibit signs of depression (such as lack of interest in school or pleasurable activities, changes in sleep and eating patterns, depressed mood and withdrawal), develop school phobias, complain about somatic symptoms such as headaches and abdominal pain, or demonstrate aggressive behaviors. Victims of cyberbullying may not tell their parents about the problem due to their fear of losing their technical devices; they may simply suffer in silence.
Do you make a distinction between online material and printed material, or should any new laws be tailored just for online?
MM: I'm not sure at this point, but we do need to treat all forms of bullying as interpersonal violence and not rites of passage. Again, the balance lies in making the consequences significant enough to have an effect, but not so severe as to endanger the young perpetrator's future.
Many people feel that any regulation of the Internet should be done informally by users, not formally by government. Your thoughts?
MM: I certainly would not want to see regulations getting out of hand. But issues such as cyberbullying and child pornography show us that users are not that great at regulating the Internet.
Is there anything else you'd like to say about this issue?
MM: An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure, factoring in inflation. We still need to utilize preventative measures to stop these behaviors from occurring in the first place.
Prof. Muscari is director of the O'Connor Office for Rural Studies, Decker School of Nursing, Binghamton University. She received her Ph.D. in psychiatric nursing from Adelphi University, her postmaster's in forensic nursing from Duquesne, and her master's in pediatric nursing from Columbia. (Her two most recent consumer books are "Everything Parents Guide to Raising Adolescent Girls" and "Everything Parents Guide to Raising Adolescent Boys.
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