Research we’ve published on various online harms, as well as strategies and solutions to promote healthy online behaviors.
School-Based Efforts to Prevent Cyberbullying
While bullying historically has occurred within or in close proximity to the school, advances in communication technologies have allowed would-be bullies to extend their reach. Cyberbullying – as it is termed – has become a significant concern among adolescents and adults alike. As a result, parents, school professionals, law enforcement, and youth themselves are looking […]
Cyberbullying: Neither an Epidemic Nor a Rarity
Growing public awareness of electronic bullying and harassment among adolescents suggests the need to empirically investigate this increasingly common and problematic behavior. Although studies of cyberbullying and online harassment among young people are nascent, preliminary findings suggest that victimization can undermine the freedom of youth to use and explore valuable online resources, and may have […]
Cyberbullying: A Review of the Legal Issues Facing Educators
School districts are often given the challenging task of addressing problematic online behaviors committed by students while simultaneously protecting themselves from civil liability by not overstepping their authority. This is difficult because the law concerning these behaviors is ambiguous and continuously evolving, and little consensus has yet been reached regarding key constitutional and civil rights […]
Cyberbullying and Self-Esteem
This article examines the relationship between middle school students’ experience with cyberbullying and their level of self-esteem. Previous research on traditional bullying among adolescents has found a relatively consistent link between victimization and lower self-esteem, while finding an inconsistent relationship between offending and lower self-esteem. It is therefore important to extend this body of research […]
Changes in Adolescent Online Social Networking Behaviors from 2006 to 2009
As online social networking has become an immersive and pervasive phenomenon, traditional considerations and expectations of personal privacy have been drastically altered. This paradigmatic change has led to adolescents possibly making themselves vulnerable to embarrassment, censure, damage to one’s name or reputation, or even victimization by others because of unwise postings or revelations online. The […]
Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide
Empirical studies and some high-profile anecdotal cases have demonstrated a link between suicidal ideation and experiences with bullying victimization or offending. The current study examines the extent to which a nontraditional form of peer aggression – cyberbullying – is also related to suicidal ideation among adolescents. Among a random sample of approximately 2,000 middle-schoolers, youth […]
Traditional and Nontraditional Bullying among Youth: A Test of General Strain Theory
Bullying at school is a common problem facing youth, school officials, and parents. A significant body of research has detailed the serious consequences associated with bullying victimization. Recently, however, a new permutation of bullying has arisen and arguably become even more problematic. Cyberbullying, as it has been termed, occurs when youth use technology as a tool or instrument […]
Trends in Online Social Networking: Adolescent Use of MySpace over Time
MySpace has received a significant amount of negative attention from the media and many concerned adults, who point to several isolated incidents where predators have contacted, become involved with and even assaulted adolescents whom they met through the popular social networking web site. Furthermore, concerned parents have expressed discontent with the amount and type of […]
Offline Consequences of Online Victimization: School Violence and Delinquency
As increasing numbers of youth embrace computer-mediated communication to meet academic and social needs, interpersonal violence directly and indirectly related to the Internet is occurring more often. Cyberbullying in particular has shot to the forefront of agendas in schools and communities due to the emotional, psychological, and even physical harm to which victims can be […]
Personal Information of Adolescents on the Internet: A Quantitative Content Analysis of MySpace
Many youth have recently embraced online social networking sites such as MySpace (myspace.com) to meet their social and relational needs. While manifold benefits stem from participating in such web-based environments, the popular media has been quick to demonize MySpace even though an exponentially small proportion of its users have been victimized due to irresponsible or […]
