NPR’s All Things Considered – September 30, 2010
NPR’s Melissa Block talks to Justin Patchin, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, about the increase in cyberbullying, and what’s being done to combat it. Click here to listen
Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Involved in Rebecca Sedwick Suicide
Two girls (a 14 year-old and a 12 year-old) have now been arrested and charged with felony aggravated stalking for their involvement in the bullying of 12 year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick. Rebecca jumped to her death on September 9th after enduring months of bullying, online and off, from as many as 15 classmates at Crystal […]
Words Wound—For a Long Time
Bobby recently shared his story with us. He said that he’d been really excited for his first day of fifth grade. On that first day, his teacher assigned classroom seating so she’d know where everyone was. Then she passed around a tablet of paper and told everyone to print their given names. “She strictly specified […]
Teacher shames student in classroom after student bullies teacher on Twitter
Recently, a female student in Northern Mexico posted very offensive comments about her teacher – Ms. Idalia Hernandez Ramos – on Twitter. These included referring to her as a “whore” and a “bitch,” and defaming her in other hurtful and insulting ways. At best, the behavior is a youthful indiscretion that unfortunately hurts the feelings […]
Comments on Proposed Changes to Wisconsin’s Bullying Law (2013 Senate Bill 184)
The Wisconsin Senate Committee on Education is meeting today to discuss a proposal to revise the state’s bullying law. You can read the text of the bill here. Wisconsin’s bullying law can be found here. I was asked to offer comments on the proposal and below are the comments that I sent to Senator Cullen’s […]
Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: Implications for Empirical Research
Research into the causes and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents has exploded in the past 5 years [1]. However, much of the literature is largely descriptive in nature and/or suffers from methodological limitations associated with accessing and studying young people who are engaged in constantly changing high-tech behaviors. These challenges notwithstanding, a clearer picture is […]
Does Bullying “Cause” Suicide?
The title of Deborah Temkin’s recent Huffington Post article is a simple request: “Stop saying bullying causes suicide.” Her plea is understandable and justified. Sameer and I also cringe when we read the ubiquitous headlines espousing the conventional wisdom proclaiming that “bullying causes suicide.” But what does the research actually say about the nature of this […]
Should Schools Monitor Students’ Social Media Accounts?
There has been much discussion over the last few days about whether it is appropriate for schools to actively monitor the social media activities of students (I participated in a HuffPost Live discussion about this issue earlier today). At the center of this recent interest is Glendale Unified School District, which is located in Southern […]
Addressing Discrimination to Prevent Bullying and Cyberbullying
In this line of work I get to hang out with teens all the time, and many of them amaze me with regard to all that they’re getting out of their K-12 school experience. Others, however, make me sad because it seems that what made school awesome for me (being intellectually stimulated, seeing my friends […]
Can Someone be an Unintentional Bully?
Defining bullying is a tricky thing. And technology just adds another complicated layer to the whole situation. I mean, we know it when we see it, and at the extreme end it’s easy to identify: the repeated threats, multiple humiliating posts, and numerous hurtful texts most likely qualify. But what about that mildly inappropriate joke […]
