In today’s society, the newer generations have been born into a world that is highly connected via the Internet. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and many more companies have all been around for as long as they can remember. This rise of the Internet brought a new space for people to share information, exchange ideas, and collaborate more efficiently. This space brought- and continues to bring -people together, but the space is not always safe for everyone. Here, people can be anonymous. They can hide behind a screen and target strangers, or even people they know, with threats, aggression, mean texts/posts/messages. They can even post personal information with the intent of harming or embarrassing someone. In the United States alone, 59% of all teens have reported being bullied or harassed online.
Our client, Eyüp Sabır Erbiçer, a PhD student at Hacettepe University and a visiting scholar at UNC in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, focuses on Psychological Counseling and Guidance. Much of his past research has had to do with cyberbullying among adolescents in Turkey, examining the prevalence of cyberbullying according to social adjustment and demographics, the relationship between coping mechanisms and cyberbullying perpetration behaviors, and more. Eyüp has drawn attention to the importance of digital interventions in the awareness, prevention, and coping of cyberbullying behaviors. And in his research, Eyüp has highlighted that different methods and techniques can and should be used to teach and prevent cyberbullying, all which can be more effective than the traditional method of hosting informative seminars.
As a result of his research, Eyüp is confident in a gamified way of learning about and preventing cyberbullying. This is where our development project comes in. Our mobile game, Cyberland, aims to teach high school students about cyberbullying behaviors through the gamification of learning modules. Within the app, students are responsible for maintaining the safety of Cyberland City, which is vulnerable to cyberbullying attacks by completing interactive games and activities, watching videos, and reading articles. Students will learn how to identify cyberbullying, how to stop this behavior, and where to reach out if they need help.