1. Introduction

Task 1

Read the Texts A and B below and then answer the questions that follow. Remember to check the highlighted vocabulary.

TEXT A
Cyberbullying; fiction and fact

Bullying has long been a concern of educators, counselors, researchers, policy makers. Recently, cyberbullying, defined as bullying perpetrated through online technology, has dominated the headlines as a major current-day adolescent challenge. Available empirical research, which includes examinations on the accuracy of commonly-perpetuated claims about cyberbullying, though not bullying in general which a different field of study, is reviewed in this paper which aims to reveal that this phenomenon is being fuelled by media headlines and unsubstantiated public declarations based on a series of myths. These myths include: what cyberbullying is; epidemic levels of cyberbullying are now occurring; causing suicide; cyberbullying occurs more often now; cyberbullying is a rite of passage; outcast cyberbullies; and to stop cyberbullying, just turn off your computer or cell phone. To clarify these assertions data is being used that is currently available so that an accurate understanding of cyberbullying can be achieved by adults who work with young people in order to better assist them in effective prevention and response and the implications for prevention efforts in education in light of these revelations are also discussed including effective school policies, educating students and stakeholders, the role of peer helper programmes, and responsive services (e.g., counseling).

Sabella, R. A., Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2013).  Cyberbullying myths and realities. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2703-2711.

TEXT B
Cyberbullying; Myths and Realities

Bullying has concerned youth advocates such as educators, counselors, researchers, and policy makers for a long time. Recently, cyberbullying or bullying using online technology, has dominated the headlines as a major current-day challenge faced by young people.

This article reviews available empirical research which examines the accuracy of commonly-perpetuated claims about cyberbullying. The analysis revealed several myths about the nature and extent of cyberbullying. It also discovered that media headlines and unsubstantiated public declarations fuel many of the myths about cyberbullying

These myths include that cyberbullying

• is commonly understood by people
• is occurring at epidemic levels
• causes suicide
• occurs more often now than traditional bullying
• is a rite of passage similar to traditional bullying
• is done by outcasts or aggressive children and adolescents
• can be stopped by turning off a computer or mobile phone

These assertions are clarified using data that are currently available so that adults who work with young people will have an accurate understanding of cyberbullying and be able to better assist them in effective prevention and response.

Implications for prevention efforts in education in light of these revelations are also discussed and include:

• effective school policies
• educating students and stakeholders
• the role of peer helper programmes
• and responsive services (e.g., counseling)

Source : Sabella, R. A., Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2013). Cyberbullying myths and realities. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2703-2711.

Click on the text button to answer the questions below

2. Control sentence length

Compare these two sentences.

1. Studies that are focused on adolescents who often use the internet for recreation have revealed an increase in the use of social networking sites which has increased the incidence of cyberbullying.

32 words

2. Studies on recreational internet use reveal a corresponding increase in social networking and cyberbullying.

15 words

Which sentence is easier to write?
Which sentence is more likely to convey exactly what you want to say?
Which sentence do you think is easier to read?
Which sentence will attract your reader?

Clearly the answer to these questions is Sentence 2, but why?

Research shows that shorter sentences have a number of advantages over long, complicated ones:

• they are easier to comprehend
• they can be read faster
• they are more effective at presenting complex information
• they result in fewer errors and so improve accuracy

Compare these two examples.

These proposals, which are intended to be effected without requiring the police authorities to increase manpower or expenditure although there may be some modest increase in expenditure by the Cyber-complaints Board, are described in Annex A to this paper.

Main clause      +     Relative clause     +    Contrasting clause   =   40 words

These proposals are described in Annex A to this paper. It is intended that the proposals should be effected without requiring the police authorities to increase manpower or expenditure. However, there may be some modest increase in expenditure by the Cyber-complaints Board.

Introductory sentence      10 words

Relative sentence             19 words

Contrasting sentence        13 words

Which example is easier to write?
Which example is more likely to convey exactly what you want to say?
Which example do you think is easier to read?
Which example will attract your reader?

Again, your answers to these questions should be Example 2.

Task 2

Read this text which consists of three sentences. Can you make it more reader friendly by dividing it into SIX sentences? Once you have identified the places where you can cut this text, click on the CHECK button..

Current regional and district policy within the Department for Online Criminal Activity places emphasis on shifting cyberbullying victims’ care away from the police and out into the community which applies primarily to children and teenagers with deep rooted self-esteem problems caused by long-term online bullying. It is necessary that policies are prepared to ensure the smooth transition of these potentially more highly disturbed and sensitive cases from the police to community and home care and that arrangements should also be made to monitor the impact of this change in care patterns on community services. The transfer in the location and style of care should be complemented by a similar transfer of resources and it is necessary that the concept of the Primary Care Team and current attachment policies be jointly reviewed by the DOCA and DSS in the light of these changes. 

45+49+48 words

Compare these two sentences.

1. The results indicate that the police carried out a detailed investigation into the accusations of cyberbullying which involved performing thorough searches of the suspects’ homes and conducting interviews with the parties involved. Based upon their findings, the recommendation was made that there was a case to answer.

47 words

2. The results indicate that the police investigated the accusations of cyberbullying which involved searching of the suspects’ homes and interviewing the parties involved. Based upon their findings, they recommended that there was a case to answer.

36 words

As you can see, ‘carried out an investigation’ can easily be replaced by the far more concise ‘investigated’. This is the advantage of using verbs over nouns; it enables the writer to construct more active and precise sentences.

Task 3

Complete the table below by typing in more concise versions of the noun phrases in the left hand column. The first one has been done for you. Once you have finished, click the CHECK button.

Compare these two sentences.

1. We interviewed 257 teenagers on their experiences with cyberbullying.

2. Over 250 teenagers were interviewed about their experiences with cyberbullying.
What exactly is the difference between these two sentences?

Well, obviously Sentence 1 is written in the active voice and Sentence 2 is written in the passive.

But which type is better? Should I use the active or the passive? Which style is more common in academic writing?

• Passive voice is appropriate
  • when the focus is intentionally on the object of the action, not the agent of the action
  • if you want to maintain ‘objectivity’ i.e. you don’t want to mention the agent of the action
• Active voice is preferred because
  • it puts the agent of the action in the strong subject position of the sentence
  • active verbs are usually more powerful and engaging that passive verbs

Task 4

Read the following sentence pairs and click on the one you think is more appropriate.

5. Employ parallel structures and lists for related ideas

Parallel structures

Compare these two sentences.

1. The study participants were asked about the frequency of the online bullying, why they were bullied online, the responsible person and their feelings.
   
   
2. The study participants were questioned about

• online bullying frequency
• reasons
• perpetrators
• and consequences.

While Sentence 1 is correct, Sentence 2 has a natural grammatical flow to it as the four related points mentioned are all grammatically equal (i.e. nouns, phrases, clauses). When we link bullet points grammatically like this we call them parallel structures. In this case they’ve been presented as bullet points but equally they could have been presented like this:

The study participants were questioned about online bullying frequency, reasons, perpetrators and consequences.

Now consider this example:

In order to counter cyber bullying, we need to:

• educate students, teachers and parents about the dangers
• install security monitoring software in school computers
• provide counselling for victims

Lists

Another way of presenting information using bullet points is to use a vertical list. Look at this example:

The following measures were identified as being particularly effective in the fight against cyberbullying:

• educating students, teachers and parents about the dangers
• installing security monitoring software in school computers
• providing counselling for victims

In this case the bullet points are introduced by the expressions ‘the following...’

Other common expressions used to introduce lists are:

...as follows...
...including...
...as detailed below...
...for example...

With vertical lists the head word of each bullet should be the same part of speech however, there is no grammatical link between the stem and the bullet i.e. each bullet point does not complete a sentence as it does with the parallel structures.

In the Introductory Task, we can see how the format of a document can make it more accessible for the reader. If you look at the use of bullet points, you will see that these are all presented as parallel structures or lists.

Task 5

Now re-write these poorly presented examples in the boxes provided. Once you’ve finished, click on the button to check your answers.

6. Use fewer prepositional phrases
Compare these two sentences.

• Because of the importance of the content of the extensive report on cyberbullying by Rudolph James written in 2014 in a journal about issues related to teenagers and technology, the study on the local attempts to improve the situation involving students in Hong Kong was delayed even more. (11 prepositional phrases)
  
  
• Rudolph James’ groundbreaking cyberbullying report (2014) prompted us to delay our local study on Hong Kong students.  (0 prepositional phrases!)

Using too many prepositional phrases can result in clumsy and lengthy sentences which are not very reader friendly or clear.

Task 6

Rewrite this text using fewer prepositions. Once you’ve finished, click on CHECK to compare answers.

Recent reports in local newspapers about cyberbullying of and by students in primary schools is worrying many people in Hong Kong. It seems that apart from the problem itself, the other main concern of theirs is the inaction of the government. It appears that the government is unaware of the significant increase in the number of cases of online intimidation. Teachers in primary schools and parents have expressed their frustration with the government about not creating a set of guidelines for cyberbullying. They argue that dealing with this growing problem is a major responsibility of the government and that unless something is done soon, the number of victims of cyberbullying could epidemic proportions.