What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is harassment that one experiences through the use of digital devices and platforms. This may take different forms, including threatening or insulting messages, spreading rumors about a person, posting private and embarrassing information about an individual, and creating fake profiles to degrade or impersonate an individual. Cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying in that the space separating them has vanished, therefore, it has become an uncontrollable and relentless problem.
Cyberbullying in Serbia
In the past five years, children and young people have been increasingly exposed to digital violence, according to research by the umbrella organization of young people in Serbia. In the period from 2019 to 2021, a stable trend was recorded, where 37% of respondents stated that they had been exposed to digital violence, while this percentage increased to 40% in 2022, i.e. in 2023, even 47% of respondents stated that they were exposed to digital violence.
At the conference on the International Safer Internet Day in 2023, it was pointed out that 86% of children and teenagers aged 9 to 17 in Serbia use the Internet daily, and as many as 16% of children in Serbia have experienced abuse over the Internet. At the international project “DeSHAME”, a survey was conducted on risky behaviors, sexual harassment and exposure of young people to sexual content on the Internet, which included 2,950 students from 40 high schools in Serbia. The findings of this research are alarming, regarding the amount of time that high school students spend on the Internet and the content they send/receive: 9.4% of young people spend more than eight hours a day on the Internet, 27.5% of respondents received sexual content from a person they do not know, while 24% received such content from people they know. Therefore, these findings confirm the fact that children and young people are the most vulnerable in the digital space.
Tragic cyberbullying cases in Serbia
Baka Prase and Kika
The most famous and media-covered case of digital violence in Serbia was the one from three years ago when YouTuber Bogdan Ilić, aka “Baka Prase”, brutally and shamefully attacked YouTuber, influencer and gamer Kristina Kika Đukić for days. Almost three years ago, Kristina was the target of a controversial YouTuber who insulted her for days on account of her physical appearance and called her various insulting words, both in the videos he published on his YouTube channel and as a guest in the morning program of television with a national frequency. In an interview, Kika then said that she received threats from his fans because of the insults of Baka Prase. Kristina committed suicide at the age of 21 in December 2021.
The Ribnikar massacre
The mass murder in the “Vladislav Ribnikar” elementary school happened on May 3, 2023, when a student of that school, K. K., shot at students and employees. He killed ten (nine students and a security guard) and wounded six people (five students and a teacher). Soon after, the police arrested the perpetrator, who was later found to be a thirteen-year-old student in the seventh grade of that school. According to the current Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia, K. K. cannot be held criminally responsible because he is under the age of fourteen. The perpetrator was armed with two pistols, which were legally owned by his father, as well as four Molotov cocktails that he made himself. Since the arrest, the killer has been kept in a psychiatric hospital in Belgrade. In the meantime, legal proceedings were initiated against his parents. The father is charged with acts against public safety, and the mother with child neglect. In some cases it is claimed that K. K. was abused by his classmates. Media house “SBB” is allegedly admitted to have messages and contacts with whom the killer corresponded, but refuses to hand them over to the prosecution.
The Case of Aleksa Janković
The case of Aleksa Janković from Niš, who committed suicide in 2011 due to months of violence he suffered at school. Aleksa suffered months of peer violence by seven peers. During that period, Aleksa had a leg in a cast, a concussion, but he was also diagnosed with post-traumatic syndrome. The thugs beat Aleksa eight times, and besides that they constantly threatened him, but also chased and insulted him. The parents informed the school, the inspectorate and the Ministry of Education, as well as the police station, but this did not prevent the tragic outcome. According to psychologists, peer violence made Aleksa anxious and depressed. Everything ended tragically when Aleksa jumped from the third floor of the building. The High Court for Juveniles in Niš sentenced three of the seven minors to the increased supervision of the Center for Social Work. At the initiative of his parents, the adoption of Aleksa’s Law was proposed, which should prevent similar events.
The Plan of Aleksa’s Law:
- Establishment of an independent body with exclusive competence to prevent/fight against peer violence
- Formation of a special body in each institution that will deal with the implementation of activities in the prevention of violence
- Introduction of the school Parliament, which will have the task of preventing violence
- New educational measures for violations of the law in institutions, such as reprimands and exclusion from classes and from school
- Fines for parents
- Permanent revocation of the license of a teacher, educator and professional associate due to non-compliance with the procedures and rules of response in case of violence.
Conclusion
Cyberbullying is a pervasive and distressing issue that transcends physical boundaries, continuous in its evolution with the digital age. The rising cases in Serbia really outline the urgent need for systemic measures to protect vulnerable groups, especially children and youth. The tragic cases of Kika, Aleksa Janković, and others underline the devastating outcomes of unchecked online harassment and peer violence. Aleksa’s Law proposes to bring a degree of accountability and prevention mechanisms through schools and society in general. As technology evolves further, cyberbullying needs a collective effort on the part of families, schools, policy framers, and digital platforms themselves in making the online and offline worlds safer.
References:
“What Is Cyberbullying”, StopBullying,
“Ko su žrtve digitalnog nasilja u Srbiji?“, Otvorena vrata pravosuđa
“Masovno ubistvo u školi Vladislav Ribnikar”, NIN
“Šta predstavlja Aleksin zakon?”, Roditelji edukacija, 13.12.2017