Review: Cyberbullying: Protecting Kids and Adults from Online Bullies
Initial reaction: This book had some interesting terms for food for thought and direct address for such a potent topic. However, I was not impressed with the one sided labeling the narrative did in spells here.
Full review:
Quickish review for a quick read, mostly.
Disclosure time: I went looking for cyberbullying resources in non-fiction reference books to write an extended blog post on the topic, but ended up scrapping the post and keeping the books from the library, so this was one of a long list of books on the topic I had the pleasure of perusing. Figured I would just review the books as I went through them.
With "Cyberbullying: Protecting Kids and Adults from Online Bullies" - I'll admit I was surprised at the tone of it despite all the resources it chose to cite. I'm not going to take away from the fact that this had pertinent information about cyberbullying - when it occurs, how it occurs, research into the topic, resources to gain information from, stories from victims, etc. That wasn't the problem. Even the organization of the book wasn't an issue - from the TOC, it organizes the information in a logical progression that breaks down the definition of bullying, the tools used to bully, and cites several cases where it's led to horrific results for those subjected to it.
I would take this resource with a grain of salt though, because there are far better resources that balance the narratives in tone and evenness with respect to the issue with greater ties and emphasis on the sources. I especially didn't like the way this seemed to alienate and typify "bullies" for typification - about lifestyle attributes or typical things that they were likely to do with very little backing to the assertions. It made the narrative seem incredibly one-sided, and this is a tough topic to talk about with multiple dimensions. We can talk about bullying being an ISSUE or a MENTALITY, not simply a type of person - I think there were times this narrative really didn't recognize that for elaboration, and that's dangerous considering that many contemporary narratives address not only resources for helping victims of bullying (which is notably the focus in this narrative) as well as helping rehabilitate those who have bullied in the past (without precariously typifying them).
I may revisit this review later to cite more quotations and expansions, but my overall impressions for now is that there are other resources that cover bullying and its problems and solutions so much better than this one. "Words Wound," "Attack on Bullying", and even Emily Bazelon's "Sticks and Stones" are just the tip of resources that are among some more balanced and resourceful references. The narrative here left much to be desired.
Overall score: 2/5 stars
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