Defund the Police? Implications for Cyberbullying Prevention post thumbnail

Defund the Police? Implications for Cyberbullying Prevention

As someone who teaches criminal justice in a university setting to many future law enforcement officers, I was appalled by the treatment of George Floyd by members of the Minneapolis Police Department. Appalled, but not surprised. Regrettably, these incidents continue to happen at an alarming rate and the last month of worldwide protests have been […]

Boys Are More Likely To Experience Dating Abuse Online, Study Says – February 25, 2020 post thumbnail

Boys Are More Likely To Experience Dating Abuse Online, Study Says – February 25, 2020

A recent study from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) found that a quarter of teens nationwide have reported experiencing some form of online abuse, and that boys are most affected. Teen digital dating abuse happens in forms of communication such as social media and smartphones. FAU has been researching teen dating violence among middle and high […]

Helping Families Manage Increased Screen Time During a Global Pandemic post thumbnail

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 […]

What Should Your School’s Bullying Policy Look Like? post thumbnail

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 post thumbnail

It is Time to Teach Safe Sexting

Research shows that roughly 10-25% of American teens have participated in “sexting,” the sharing of sexually-explicit or sexually-suggestive images. When minors share nude images of themselves with others in the United States, they are distributing child pornography. If these images are received from others and stored on personal devices, individuals are in possession of child […]

Digital Dating Abuse Among a National Sample of U.S. Youth post thumbnail

Digital Dating Abuse Among a National Sample of U.S. Youth

Digital dating abuse is a term used to describe physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence that occurs between romantic partners through the use of texting, social media, and related online mediums. Survey data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 2,218 American middle and high school students (12–17 years old) who have been in a […]

Sextortion: More Insight Into the Experiences of Youth post thumbnail

Sextortion: More Insight Into the Experiences of Youth

Earlier this year, thirty-six-year old Barton Scott hacked into dozens of Snapchat accounts to access explicit images of 14 to 16 year-old girls. According to court records, he manipulated and subsequently coerced victims into turning over their passwords, giving him access to images not intended for public dissemination. He then used those private images as […]