This resources provides scenarios that parents, educators, and other adults can use to discuss issues that may come up when young people are using technology. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2023). Social Media and Tech Misuse Scenarios. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/Social-Media-and-Tech-Misuse-Scenarios.pdf Download the Scenarios
Bias-based cyberbullying involves repeated hurtful actions online that devalue or harass one’s peers specific to an identity-based characteristic. Cyberbullying in general has received increased scholarly scrutiny over the last decade, but the subtype of bias-based cyberbullying has been much less frequently investigated, with no known previous studies involving youth across the United States. The current…
I have been increasingly concerned about rising levels of hate speech, hate crimes, racist bullying, and xenophobia – especially when considering how these behaviors online are linked to violence offline against marginalized groups. It isn’t just alarming, it’s frightening – especially being a minority and considering what my children may have to deal with while…
Parents and guardians have always had a powerful influence on the behaviors of children, while research is clear that peers tend to have more sway during the teenage years. That said, our new research published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies identifies that certain positive parenting practices have a strong effect on both…
Bullying and cyberbullying prevention remain a major priority for schools, communities, and families, and research is clear that positive, constructive parenting practices can play a key preventive role. The current work explores six dimensions of parenting (warmth, structure, autonomy support, rejection, chaos, and coercion), and their specific relationship to school and online bullying. Using survey…
Bullying that specifically targets youth and young adults based on their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression has been a problem for decades. The increased utilization of technology among youth (and, well, just about everyone) has resulted in bullying behaviors moving online. As a result, cyberbullying perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth…
New research shows that school bullying dropped dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic while cyberbullying remained stable. One of the questions we have been asked most often over the last 18 months is whether bullying has gotten better or worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Early on, there was a concern that cyberbullying incidents…
I pick my son up from school most days, and from his first day of kindergarten I got into the habit of routinely asking him two specific questions: 1) “How was your day?” and 2) “Was there any bullying?” I’d ask the latter question with a conspiratorial raise of my brow—as if asking him if…
Research on digital self-harm – the anonymous or pseudonymous posting of hurtful or negative information about oneself on the internet and social media platforms – is in the early stages of development. While scholars have started to focus on the correlates of this behavior, there remains a need to anchor the study of digital self-harm…
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…
Recently, I was a part of a conference held by Facebook and Instagram in Washington, DC. The conference endeavored to bring together members of faith-based NGOs to identify solutions to address bullying and cyberbullying by one’s religion. Overall, it was a productive, energizing few hours together, and I was left feeling very inspired about all…
I’m always on the lookout for innovative approaches to improve student well-being and to create healthy, thriving communities – whether online or on campus. And as you know, Justin and I have examined a number of factors over the years which affect the experience of youth during their journey through adolescence. School climate has been…
While previous studies have identified that school bullying and cyberbullying victimization among adolescents is associated with suicidal thoughts and attempts, no work has measured the severity of bullying incidents and their impact on the youth at school within that context. As such, a survey was distributed to a representative sample of U.S. youth between the…
There continues to be a lot of discussion involving bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide both in the media as well as in social circles of parents, educators, and other youth professionals. I just looked up “suicide and bullying” on Google News and in just this past weekend alone there are multiple stories involving different kids in…
This talk will teach participants to help educators form an alliance with parents to address bullying and cyberbullying where both realize they need to work together.
In an effort to better prevent and respond to bullying and cyberbullying, schools are recognizing a need to focus on positive youth development. One often-neglected developmental construct in this rubric is resilience, which can help students successfully respond to the variety of challenges they face. Enhancing this internal competency can complement the ever-present efforts of…
We’ve written a new bullying prevention book and it is now available! “Bullying Today: Bullet Points and Best Practices” was written for educators looking for concrete, comprehensive, and yet concise information to tackle bullying on campus and online. Before bullying surfaces in your school, you need to be ready. This book is organized so you…
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is a large-scale data collection effort led by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. A nationally-representative sample of approximately 90,000 households is selected, and a survey is administered face-to-face or via telephone twice a year for three years to 160,000 persons within those households who…
Over five years ago I saw a statistic that jumped out at me: “160,000 students stay home from school every day because of bullying.” This is a compelling and frankly unacceptable number. I thought about including it in a book that Sameer and I were working on at the time. As I started to dig…
The other day I was exiting an academic building on my campus when I noticed a large bald eagle flying low above the lot where my truck was parked. Eagle sightings have become relatively routine in the last few years here in western Wisconsin, but I nevertheless always stop what I am doing to watch…
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the Columbine Memorial in Littleton, Colorado. Even though my family loves Colorado as a vacation destination, I had never stopped by to see what was done to honor those who lost their lives in that horrific tragedy. My friend Dan – who lives in Littleton –…
Researchers at the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) just published a paper in the journal Psychology of Violence that explores the question of whether technology “amplifies” the harm for youth who are harassed. Anecdotally, we have heard this to be the case from many youth over the years:…
The Obama administration arguably declared war on bullying in the fall of 2010 when it convened the first federally-supported Bullying Prevention Summit. In 2011, stopbullying.gov was launched. That same year, I attended a conference hosted by President Obama at the White House, where he said: “If there is one goal of this conference, it is…
Cyberbullying among university students has been in the media a lot lately, with a particular emphasis on newer anonymous apps like Yik Yak and Burnbook. Last fall I wrote a post for my university’s Medium blog on the topic of bullying among college students. I thought I would re-post it here for those who may…