Generative AI as a Vector for Harassment and Harm post thumbnail

Generative AI as a Vector for Harassment and Harm

As a social science researcher studying trust and safety on online platforms, it is critical to think through potential risks and negative impacts associated with the use of generative AI technologies. To be sure, its potential is incredible – and will benefit societal members in almost limitless ways. In this environment of giddy euphoria about […]

Cyberbullying Among Asian American Youth Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Among Asian American Youth Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

PURPOSE Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a concern that cyberbullying incidents would increase as youth were spending more time online. Additionally, reports emerged that Asian American citizens were being disproportionately targeted due to the purported origination of the disease. The current study explores whether cyberbullying incidents increased among adolescents overall—and Asian American youth […]

Bias-Based Cyberbullying Among Early Adolescents: The Role of Cognitive and Affective Empathy post thumbnail

Bias-Based Cyberbullying Among Early Adolescents: The Role of Cognitive and Affective Empathy

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 […]

Cyberbullying Among Asian American Youth Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Among Asian American Youth Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Last year I posted preliminary results of our inquiry into whether cyberbullying had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that it had in fact increased, though not to the extent that some had predicted. Today I can share that additional findings from this research have just been published in the Journal of School Health. […]

Can Empathy Reduce Cyberbullying Based on Race or Religion? post thumbnail

Can Empathy Reduce Cyberbullying Based on Race or Religion?

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 […]

ReThink the Internet: How to Make the Digital World a LOT LESS SUCKY post thumbnail

ReThink the Internet: How to Make the Digital World a LOT LESS SUCKY

I recently visited with Trisha Prabhu, Internet Safety advocate and social entrepreneur, to discuss her new book intended to help youth stop hate, lead with kindness, be an upstander, and enjoy their online experiences. I also read an advance copy, and I highly recommend it. Let’s get to our conversation! Trisha, it is so good […]

The Role of Parents in Preventing Bullying and Cyberbullying post thumbnail

The Role of Parents in Preventing Bullying and Cyberbullying

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 Offending Among US Youth: The Influence of Six Parenting Dimensions post thumbnail

Bullying and Cyberbullying Offending Among US Youth: The Influence of Six Parenting Dimensions

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 […]

Cyberbullying Statistics 2021 | Age, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Race post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Statistics 2021 | Age, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Race

Provides updated statistics on cyberbullying from a national study on US youth by age, gender, sexual orientation, and race. In May-June 2021, we collected new data from a nationally representative sample of 2,546 US youth between the ages of 13 and 17 to better understand their positive and negative experiences online. This is the type […]