IN-SERVICE AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ON CYBERBULLING

Abstract

A fundamental resource in educational programs for preventing and combating cyberbullying are the teachers. Although cyberbullying can happen anywhere in the virtual environment, the formal educational environment is conductive to preventive interventions for all pupils of a class (Wolfer, R., Schultze-Krumbholz, A., Zagorscak, P., Jakel, A., Gobel, K ., & Scheithauer, H. (2014) Based on these prerequisites, we have carried out a study on the in -service and pre-service teachers enrolled at Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, aiming at: identifying how teachers understand concrete manifestations of cyberbullying and recognize a victim-student of cyberbullying, identifying the role of responsible persons in preventing and combating this phenomenon, identifying solutions to combat cyberbullying, identifying the training needs of teachers in the field of prevention and combating cyberbullying. The results shown that the teachers have a non-nuanced representation on the phenomenon of cyberbullying, they stressed the need for training on the topic and considered that parents are the main responsible for children education as regarding safety in virtual environment. The study also highlighted that the phenomenon of cyberbullying is the problem of the whole society, and its solving cannot be left to the sole responsibility of a single institution / factor: Combating cyberbullying is a current issue that should be debated by each of us. The involvement of everyone is very important. (V.D