The Problem with “Cyber Safety”: Calling for Technosocial Educational Responses to Technology-Facilitated Violence and Bullying

Abstract

Background: International research has found that educational responses to technology-facilitated violence and bullying (TFVB) often fail to address the technosocial realities of young people’s integrated online/offline and virtual/physical lives. Analysis: This article undertakes a Canadian case study of Nova Scotia’s CyberScan unit to understand if similar shortcomings persist in Canadian educational responses. Conclusions and implications: Using the interdisciplinary theoretical framework of digital criminology, the article shows that CyberScan exemplifies a problematic “cyber safety” approach that fails to recognize and address the technosocial nature of TFVB, resulting in ineffective and disempowering educational messages.