Virtual Reality? Implications for Advancing Technology

Patrick I. Romero-Aldaz

In a world that is becoming dependent on technological advancement and the use of computer aided or virtual modalities for communication, education, and relationship building it is inevitable that such advances may have positive as well as negative implications. Of those negative impacts, educators are now having to deal with the new challenge of addressing, preparing for, and safeguarding against virtual incivilities that have made their way into our classrooms and onto our campuses (Dickerson, 2005).

Kowalski, R., Limber, S., and Agatston, P. (2008) argue that since virtual incivilities like cyber-bullying and virtual assault have recently become globally pervasive, educators are just now beginning to understand the issues associated with cyber behavior and are scrambling to develop effective policies to address the activities associated with those behaviors. A problem in addressing this effectively can be the very nature of virtual worlds; they tend to operate within an arena of perceived or actual anonymity. Skillful bullies can use the technologies out there to extend that anonymity to almost untraceable fashions using multiple email addresses and screen names (Dickerson, 2005).

Another issue that arises in addressing this type of behavior is that such actions are often born of required activity in a classroom setting. In this type of situation the professor or administrator. ask or require students to join virtual arenas for the purposes of education without understanding the terms and conditions of services provided by these virtual worlds. Where this becomes a problem is that often the terms and conditions of membership may safeguard the activities taking place by securing a person’s profile, and denying any responsibility for what occurs within the realm of this alternate reality (Bugeja, 2007b).

One such situation is documented in some cases involving virtual rape or other types of sexual assault in the virtual world Second Life used by many universities and professors as a way of conducting some virtual education. Bugeja (2007a) in an article about Second Life found that by the end of 2006 Linden Labs, the creators of this virtual environment were receiving over 2000 notices of virtual abuse per month. Of the reported abuses virtual rape was the most egregious, but reports also included unwanted sexual advances, detaining avatars against their will, and use of hurtful, vulgar, and demeaning language that could be considered violent, sexist, and homophobic. Could this activity if part of a required university experience result in a violation of an institutions code of conduct? Should it?

The rub for higher education professionals to understand and embrace is that most of the research regarding virtual harassment, assault, and bullying revolve around K-12 educational arenas, but they are clearly present in higher education. How do we help students, faculty, and staff if we don’t accurately know how pervasive this activity is in higher education? These acts can lead victims to engaging in activities that include self-harm after consistently being subject to this type of behavior. In their study, Hay and Meldrum (2010) found that similar to traditional bullying and harassing behavior, cyber bullying and virtual harassment are positively related to self-harm and suicidal ideation by the recipients of the bullying. Victims reported feeling real grief, fear, anger, and hurt as a result of these virtual activities giving evidence that virtual activities can result in real harm. Another anecdotal examples occurred in September 2010, when the higher education community witnessed the use of technology as a tool of terrorism and it’s resulting tragedy when an 18-year-old student at Rutgers University committed suicide after being victimized by his roommate using such technologies as twitter and a personal web camera.

With the advance of technology and higher education using these mediums to increase access and innovation, it is important that we get on the forefront of this issue. It’s important for educators to understand all aspects of technological advancement before such fear is created that we lose out on all the positive attributes of such environments. It is essential that Administrators, faculty, and legal counsel offices begin to explore the liabilities exposed, the processes and polices that must be adhered to and how to safeguard our students, faculty, and staff as best possible. With ramifications a minor as a lawsuit for creating an environment where virtual harassment can cause real psychological harm, to something as major as the loss of life as a result of these activities. Higher education needs to take note and act.

References

Bugeja, M.J. Avatar Rape. Inside HigherEd. February 25, 2007. Available at: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/02/25/bugeja

Bugeja, M.J. Second Thoughts About Second Life. Chronicle of Higher Education. September 14, 2007. Available at: http://chronicle.com/article/Second-Thoughts-About-Second/46636/

Dickerson, Darby, Cyberbullies on Campus. University of Toledo Law Review, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2005.

Hay, C. and Meldrum, R. (2010) Bullying Victimization and Adolescent Self-Harm: Testing Hypotheses from General Strain Theory. Journal of Youth Adolescence. 39:446–459.

Kowalski, R, Limber, S. and Agatston, P. (2008) Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age. Victoria: Blackwell Publishing.