CYBERBULLYING AMONGST GIFTED STUDENTS: ARE THEY SUFFERING MORE AGGRESSIONS THAN OTHER STUDENTS?

Although the literature is often described that intellectually gifted students as victims of abuse behaviors (Cross, 2005; Gross, 2002) findings of the diverse investigations on the topic are inconclusive. In fact we find three perspectives that draw a very different relationship between the gifted students and harassment: The first one says that the very characteristics of gifted individuals may turn them more likely victims of harassment. The second perspective argues just the opposite and does emphasize that people identified with higher inteligence tend to have a better emotional adjustment, or even have higher levels of social functioning and pro-social behavior (Estell et al, 2009). The third theory claims that there is no link between intellectual giftedness and bullying, whether in the role of victims or aggressors.

In this paper we present the results of study conducted by using the sampling procedure of paired sample in which we had 61 pairs (61 students diagnosticated as gifted and 61 students not disgnosticated as gifted); so the total sample was 122 secondary education students. In the present document we present the results of two of the cyberbulling pratices and conducts analyzed by a questionnaire admisnitrated to the participants, concretely we present the results referering to:
- Write or spread jokes or comments that leave me ridiculous
- Send me abusive and insulting messages
- Get my password to access my social networks

In the three cases analyzed, gifted students had higher means of having suffered this practices but there is no statiscally significance, calculated applying the T-student test, in the diference between the two groups of students.

References:
[1] Cross, T. L. (2001). Social/Emotional needs: The rage of gifted students. Gifted Child Today, 24(2), 43-45.
[2] Cross, T.L. (2005). The Social and Emotional Lives of Gifted Kids: Understanding and Guiding their Development. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
[3] Garland, A. F., & Zigler, E. (1999). Emotional and behavioral problems among highly intellectual gifted youth. Roeper Review 22, 41-44.
[4] stell, D.B.; Farmer, T.W.; Irvin, M.J.; Crowther, A.; Akos, P. & Boudah, D.J. (2009). Students with exceptionalities and the peer group context of bullying and victimization in late elementary school. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18, 136–150.