A journalism class project at Michigan State University has been turned into a book on bullying.
“The New Bullying: How Social Media, Social Exclusion, Laws and Suicide Changed Bullying” is already published in digital form, with traditional paper printing expected soon.
Joe Grimm teaches the class of 17 students who researched how technology and social media have changed bullying.
“Fifteen years ago, we didn’t have You Tube to show people bullying each other on the playground," Grimm explains. "We didn’t have phone computers in everybody’s pocket, where you could get harassing messages all day long and all night long wherever you are. We didn’t have Facebook, where people could create fake Facebook pages and pick on other people.”
Grimm says the book also covers how the law has evolved to make some acts of bullying illegal.
“September 11th led to the Patriot Act, which criminalized a lot of kinds of behavior," Grimm continues. "Threats, for example, which is a big part of bullying; the use of computers to threaten other people is a new kind of crime; there are now 49 states with laws against bullying.”
The book includes stories about band hazing and workplace bullying.
Already available digitally, the book will be published in a traditional paper printing soon.