Cyberbullying: Top Ten Tips for Health Care Providers
This resource provides tips for health care professionals (pediatricians, school nurses, etc.) to help them identify and care for students who may have experienced cyberbullying.
How Social Media Helps Teens Cope With Anxiety, Depression, and Self-Harm
It is easy for many adults – whether educators or parents – to focus on the negatives of social media in the lives of teens today. This is understandable, because they are the ones who have to deal with the fallout when adolescents make mistakes online (cyberbullying incidents, sexting cases, electronic dating violence, digital reputation…
Review of “UnSelfie”
Parenting expert and educational psychologist Dr. Michele Borba released a new book last week. This by itself isn’t newsworthy (she has, after all, published roughly a book a year for the last quarter of a century). But this latest contribution has the potential to have a significant impact on parents and their children. I’ve followed…
Natural Day – Love Yourself Before You Can Love Others
Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to get to know Sanah Jivani, who is a senior at Klein Collins High School, and the founder of the international #naturalday movement. I was blown away by her story, and told her how important it was for others to hear it and be inspired by it (as I…
Trauma, Bullying, and Cyberbullying
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the felt experiences of youth who have to deal with bullying at school or online, and how it may have a traumatic effect on some of them. One might argue that most bullying incidents don’t induce trauma, and that may be true if we view all forms and…
Tween Cyberbullying in the United States
We have been exploring how young people use and misuse technology, with a primary focus on cyberbullying, for nearly two decades. In that time, though, we have almost exclusively studied middle and high school students (12- to 17-year-olds) and their caregivers. Earlier this year we were approached by Cartoon Network with questions about tween experiences…
Report Cyberbullying
This is a constantly updated list of contact information for social media apps, gaming networks, and related companies – so you know where to get help for bullying, harassment, threats, and other forms of misuse. Feel free to share it widely, as many targets do not know where to turn. Please email us if…
TikTok: Pros, Cons, and the Promise of Youth Empowerment
I trust by now that you’ve at least heard of TikTok, the fledgling short-form video app that has been around since 2016 but has exploded in popularity since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. With at least two billion downloads and at least 800 million active users (and probably way more), its reach seems to…
Digital Dating Abuse: Top Ten Tips for Teens
“Digital dating abuse” involves using technology to repetitively harass a romantic partner with the intent to control, coerce, intimidate, annoy or threaten them. Given that youth in relationships today are constantly in touch with each other via texting, social media, and video chat, more opportunities for digital dating abuse can arise. Below are ten tips to help keep teens safe online when it comes to romantic relationships.
Cyberbullying Research in the Vietnam
Here is the research we’ve found on cyberbullying in Vietnam, with the most recent first. Please email us if you have any articles to add with the details ordered in the same format as the others. Authors: Tien Le, Q Year: 2020 Title: A Study of the Core Relationship between Cyberbullying and Coping…
Social Media, Cyberbullying, and Online Safety Glossary
In our Glossary below, we define the terms you need to know in the realm of social media, cyberbullying, and online safety, so that you are increasingly informed about technological jargon as you work with the youth under your care. (Apart from the list below, you can also download a distributable PDF of our Social…
Pandetiquette: Countering Misinformation in the Information Age through Media Literacy
In Part 2 of this series I call “Pandetiquette,” where I offer my thoughts on how to put the social back in social media (Part 1 here), I want to address the issue of misinformation. When I first thought to write about encouraging civility online several weeks ago, I had a short section on misinformation.…
Pandetiquette: Keeping the “Social” in Social Media During Times of Profound Polarization
I’ve found myself unfriending, unfollowing, and muting more and more people on social media lately. Given the political situation in the United States (and in my home state of Wisconsin) over the last decade, the fact that animosity online has only increased as my patience dwindles says something about the current state of things on…
What the Best Bullying and Cyberbullying Assembly Speakers Do
I have recently shared the most important considerations for schools planning to host bullying assembly programs according to research. Now, I wanted to turn your attention to bullying and cyberbullying speakers themselves. As you may know from your own experiences, there are fantastic ones out there, but there are also many who leave a lot…
Bullying Assembly Programs – What Schools Need to Know
For decades now, schools have been organizing assemblies to address bullying, substance abuse, and a variety of other student issues. Perhaps like me, you remember sitting through them during middle or high school school and – unfortunately – tuning out because you just didn’t feel like you could connect with the speaker. When it came…
Helping Families Manage Increased Screen Time During a Global Pandemic
The spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic has created plenty of anxieties for parents trying to balance work and family responsibilities amid ever-changing uncertainties. In this unprecedented time of hunkering down and holing up, parents are relying more than ever on technology to help carry the educational and recreational load. All across the world school…
Coronavirus, Online Learning, Social Isolation, and Cyberbullying: How To Support Our Students
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has taken the world by storm and disrupted so many aspects of our lives. As an educator, I’m always thinking about how historical phenomenon might affect (in positive and negative ways) the personal and professional success of our students and this disease has me concerned on a number of levels. Obviously, the…
A Teen’s View of Social Media in 2020
I recently met a high schooler named Eve, and appreciated our conversations about all things related to social media, identity, loneliness, affirmation, and purpose. I thought she would be an ideal person to share “A Teen’s Perspective on Social Media in 2020” and she happily obliged. Below are her thoughts; we both hope they give…
What Should Your School’s Bullying Policy Look Like?
We are regularly contacted by school administrators, board members, parents and others with questions about school bullying policies. In fact, a few months ago the principal at my son’s elementary school asked me to review their bullying policy. I am always happy to help, with the preemptive caveat that I am not a lawyer and…
It is Time to Teach Safe Sexting
It’s 2020. And it’s about time we rethink our approach to teen sexting. Justin and I wrote an piece that was just published in the Journal of Adolescent Health (currently free to download!) arguing that it is time to take a more thoughtful and comprehensive approach to sexting, by supplementing abstinence messages with information to…
Sticks and Stones Sixty Years Later: A Disabled Woman’s Advice for Adults and Teens on Dealing with Bullying and Cyberbullying
Note: October is National Bullying Prevention Month. All this month we are highlighting resources to help youth—and those who care for them—deal with bullying (online and off). One particularly vulnerable population is youth with disabilities. Those who bully often target those who are perceived to be different than them, and living with a disability is…
2019 eSafety Conference in Sydney
I just got back from my first-ever visit to Australia, and had an incredible time at the 2019 eSafety conference hosted by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. The theme was “The Online World We Want,” and I was invited to discuss our 2019 research findings on bullying, cyberbullying, sexting, sextortion, and digital self-harm among…
Virginia (VA) Model Bullying Policy
Below is the model bullying policy made available by the Virginia State Department of Education for school districts within Virginia to use when crafting their own bullying and cyberbullying policies. Each state’s policies vary when it comes to how they: define bullying, harassment, threats, intimidation, and violence; expect reporting and investigating to be carried out,…
Texas (TX) Model Bullying Policy
Below is the model bullying policy made available by the Texas State Department of Education for school districts within Texas to use when crafting their own bullying and cyberbullying policies. Each state’s policies vary when it comes to how they: define bullying, harassment, threats, intimidation, and violence; expect reporting and investigating to be carried out,…