Read the latest news and brand new pieces on youth, social media, and emerging technologies! We focus on preventing harm and promoting positive online behaviors.

Cyberbullying Evidence and Cell Phone Service Provider Data Retention post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Evidence and Cell Phone Service Provider Data Retention

Educators and parents are often interested in learning about digital evidence and its collection. Many times, they (or the youth they care for) help with collecting evidence to depict cyberbullying instances by taking screenshots (see our instructional guide here) or using freeware or commercial software to record chat logs, instant messaging conversations, emails, and social […]

Tattling vs Telling post thumbnail

Tattling vs Telling

As we work with increasingly younger kids to educate them about the responsible use of technology, we find it extremely important to discuss how they should respond to being cyberbullied. Central to this conversation is covering the difference between “tattling” and “telling.” Perhaps you are extremely familiar with this distinction – but if not, read […]

White House Bullying Conference post thumbnail

White House Bullying Conference

On Thursday March 10, 2011, the White House convened a conference to address the issue of bullying. First Lady Michelle and President Obama welcomed parents, students, researchers, industry leaders and others to discuss the negative effects of bullying and highlight some of the best-practices and promising approaches in prevention and response. I was honored to […]

Additional Thoughts on Sexting Advice for Teens post thumbnail

Additional Thoughts on Sexting Advice for Teens

Thanks to all for their comments on my recent blog about how teens should respond when they receive a “sext.” Here are some of my follow-up thoughts, based on comments and emails received, as well as an email exchange among members of the Youth Risk Online Google Group which includes some of the brightest “teens […]

You Received a “Sext,” Now What? Advice for Teens post thumbnail

You Received a “Sext,” Now What? Advice for Teens

If you are a teen and receive a sexually-explicit image of a classmate via your cell phone (or email, or instant message, or via a Nintendo Dsi, or any other type of electronic communication), what should you do? This can be a challenging situation, to say the least. We know that anywhere from 10-30% (or […]

Cyberbullying Rates Across the World, and the Role of Culture post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Rates Across the World, and the Role of Culture

UPDATE: See the cyberbullying research by country in our new interactive map and section of our site! Being Americans, we tend to focus a lot of attention on offline and online peer harassment here at home.  It is interesting, though, to consider the cross-cultural research that has been done on traditional bullying and think about […]

When Can Educators Search Student Cell Phones? post thumbnail

When Can Educators Search Student Cell Phones?

Do students have an expectation of privacy on their cell phones while at school? The short answer to this is a qualified yes. Whether educators have the authority to search the contents of student cell phones depends on a lot of factors. The key issue in this analysis (that we have raised before on this […]

Teachers, Administrators, and the Search of Student Cell Phones post thumbnail

Teachers, Administrators, and the Search of Student Cell Phones

As we know, students use their smart phones and cell phones to engage in cyberbullying or other forms of teen technology misuse at school, regardless of the presence of formal policies that prohibit their display or use during some or all hours of the school day. Ask any professional at a middle or high school, […]

Guidelines for Online Communication between Teachers and Students post thumbnail

Guidelines for Online Communication between Teachers and Students

The state of Virginia has recently proposed guidelines for public schools in order to prevent sexual (and other forms of) misconduct between educators and students. Justin and I have blogged about this issue here and here in the past – and it continues to be a topic of strong interest and controversy as we work […]

Obtaining Cyberbullying Evidence from Third Parties at School post thumbnail

Obtaining Cyberbullying Evidence from Third Parties at School

Here is a recent question submitted that we thought could help others in a similar situation: “In my role as a school administrator, many of the accusations regarding cyberbullying come from third parties. I am unable to produce evidence on the accused offending party because I do not have access to their media device (i.e. […]