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Can Someone be an Unintentional Bully? post thumbnail

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 […]

What Teens Are Doing Online post thumbnail

What Teens Are Doing Online

(reposted from the Free Spirit Publishing blog) Some adults are under the assumption that just about everything that teens do online is either hurtful to themselves or others or a complete waste of time. To be fair, there’s no shortage of daily headlines that seem to point to the conclusion that many teens are using […]

Hannah Smith: Even More Tragic Than Originally Thought post thumbnail

Hannah Smith: Even More Tragic Than Originally Thought

Many are now familiar with the tragic case of Hannah Smith, the 14-year-old from Leicestershire, England, who hanged herself on August 2nd after reportedly being harassed online for months. Cruel messages received principally on the social media site Ask.fm are being cited by her father and others as a primary cause of the suicide, though […]

Law Enforcement Views of Cyberbullying and Sexting post thumbnail

Law Enforcement Views of Cyberbullying and Sexting

Earlier this summer, Sameer and I (along with our good friend Joe Schafer), published an article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin that describes the perceptions and experiences of law enforcement when it comes to responding to cyberbullying and sexting.  This article stemmed from my work a few years ago as a Futurist in Residence […]

Educators, Students, and Conversations about Technology Misuse post thumbnail

Educators, Students, and Conversations about Technology Misuse

During the last several years, school staff have become well aware that what happens online often significantly impacts the environment at school and the ability of students to learn. It is also true that what goes on at school influences the nature and content of student interactions while away from school. That means that a […]

Summary of State Sexting Laws post thumbnail

Summary of State Sexting Laws

We define sexting as “sending or receiving sexually explicit or sexually suggestive nude or seminude images or video, usually via a cell phone.”  Most commonly when people use the term “sexting” it is to refer to incidents where minors take pictures of themselves when they are nude or nearly nude and send them to others.  […]

School Climate 2.0: Reviews and Response post thumbnail

School Climate 2.0: Reviews and Response

Since our book School Climate 2.0: Preventing Cyberbullying and Sexting One Classroom at a Time was published last year, the response has been amazing.  Many educators have come up to us at events around the country to tell us how much they really appreciate the research-based information and strategies that they can put to use […]

Holding Parents Responsible for Their Child’s Bullying post thumbnail

Holding Parents Responsible for Their Child’s Bullying

Without a doubt, parents have a duty to do their part to ensure that their kids do not bully others.  They need to regularly remind their kids about the importance of treating others the way they would want to be treated.  They should talk about how some things we might do or say to someone […]

How to Report Cyberbullying on Instagram post thumbnail

How to Report Cyberbullying on Instagram

Explains how to report cyberbullying, abuse, and threats on Instagram. Recently, we’ve discussed general safety tips for teens related to Instagram, and also fleshed out in detail how individuals are cyberbullied on Instagram. Today, I thought I’d summarize the ways in which teens (and adults) should use Instagram and how to report cyberbullying on it […]

Cyberbullying on Instagram post thumbnail

Cyberbullying on Instagram

Last time, I shared my viewpoints on Instagram safety in a general way. Today, I’m going to talk about cyberbullying that occurs on Instagram. As I mentioned, Instagram is minimalistic and intentionally doesn’t provide a lot of features that you might find on Facebook. This also means that various forms of victimization – identity theft, […]