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Bullying still > cyberbullying, but most kids do neither

August 28, 2012 By Anne 6 Comments

Researchers keep coming up with different numbers, but what doesn’t change is that…

  1. Most kids do not engage in bullying or cyberbullying
  2. There’s considerable overlap between online and offline aggression among kids who do
  3. Bullying is not on the rise, but there’s more of it going on than cyberbullying
  4. The prevalence of cyberbullying has been widely overstated.

“Reports of a cyberbullying explosion over the past few years because of increasing use of mobile devices have been greatly exaggerated,” reported USATODAY, citing newly published research by leading bullying expert and psychologist Dan Olweus of the University of Bergen in Norway. His report, published recently in the European Journal of Developmental Psychology, included large-scale samples in the US and Norway.

“In the US sample,” USATODAY reported, “18% of students said they had been verbally bullied, while about 5% said they had been cyberbullied. About 10% said they had bullied others verbally and 3% said they had bullied others electronically.”

Looking at a broad range of studies (as well as their own), US researchers and authors Justin Patchin and Sameer Hinduja at the Cyberbullying Research Center have found a higher figure for the US than Olweus did – on average 24% – for teens who have experienced cyberbullying. Here are other key highlights in Profs. Patchin and Hinduja’s response to Dr. Olweus’s article in the psychology journal:

  • Research over the past 10 years shows neither an increase nor a decrease in cyberbullying, but…
  • More kids are reporting cyberbullying incidents. But the reporting figure is still low: about 25%.
  • “The fact that more teens are telling their stories and more high-profile tragic incidents are being reported in the media may lead some people to conclude that the problem is increasing,” Hinduja and Patchin write. “But like Professor Olweus, we do not see any evidence of this.”
  • Like Olweus, they also see the value of a positive school climate and other pieces of “a systematic and comprehensive multi-domain effort involving schools, parents, law enforcement, other community leaders, and teens themselves” in reducing bullying.

In other comparisons of the US and other parts of the world where bullying’s concerned, the Christian Science Monitor recently reported that cyberbullying is less prevalent in the US than other countries. It cited a Microsoft-sponsored Global Youth Behavior Survey of 7,600 8-to-17-year-olds in 25 countries finding that 13% of US students had engaged in “behaviors online that are often considered to be bullying – such as meanness, teasing, and unfriendly treatment – compared with 24% around the globe.” But a recent survey by EU Kids Online of young people in 25 European countries found that only 6% of 9-to-16-year-olds have been bullied online (search for the 2011 “final report” on this page). The Microsoft survey that, in the US, 52% of respondents said their school provides cyberbullying prevention instruction, compared with 37% of students in other countries around the world.

Next in this 2-part series: “‘Bullying’ & ‘peer victimization’: Clearer terms, better communication<

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Filed Under: bullying, cyberbullying, Research, Risk & Safety Tagged With: bullying, cyberbullying, Dan Olweus, Justin Patchin, Sameer Hinduja, youth online risk research

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  1. October is ‘Bullying Awareness Month’ But When is ‘Most Kids Don’t Bully Month’? - Personal Injury Attorney and Connecticut Accident Lawyers says:
    July 22, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    […] in NetFamilyNews, My ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier recently pointed out that “Most kids do not engage in bullying or cyberbullying” and “The prevalence […]

    Reply
  2. What are we really seeing in the social media fishbowl? by Anne Collier says:
    September 24, 2014 at 10:13 am

    […] “Bullying still > than cyberbullying, but most kids do neither” […]

    Reply
  3. Cyberbullying: Keeping Your Family Safe Online | iDeaPLAY by iDeaUSA says:
    December 3, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    […] they’ve witnessed bullying, or feel they are being cyberbullied in any way. The scary truth is, only about 25% of kids admit when they have been, or are being bullied. Be present, aware and engaged in your kid’s life […]

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  4. Larry Magid: October Is 'Bullying Awareness Month,' But When Is 'Most Kids Don't Bully Month'? says:
    March 1, 2013 at 4:23 am

    […] in NetFamilyNews, My ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier recently pointed out that "most kids do not engage in bullying or cyberbullying" and "the prevalence of cyberbullying […]

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  5. October is ‘Bullying Awareness Month’ But When is ‘Most Kids Don’t Bully Month’? | Dream Something says:
    October 9, 2012 at 11:12 am

    […] in NetFamilyNews, My ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier recently pointed out that “Most kids do not engage in bullying or cyberbullying” and “The prevalence […]

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  6. » October is ‘Bullying Awareness Month’ But When is ‘Most Kids Don’t Bully Month’? Who is a Bully? says:
    October 9, 2012 at 3:25 am

    […] in NetFamilyNews, My ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier recently pointed out that “Most kids do not engage in […]

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Our (DIGITAL) PARENTING BASICS: Safety + Social
NAMLE, the National Association for Media Literacy Education
CASEL.org & the 5 core social-emotional competencies of SEL
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Innovative Public Health Research
Childnet International
Committee for Children
Congressional Internet Caucus Academy
ConnectSafely.org
Control Shift: a pivotal book for Internet safety
Crimes Against Children Research Center
Crisis Textline
Cyber Civil Rights Initiative's Revenge Porn Crisis Line
Cyberwise.org
danah boyd's blog and book about networked youth
Disconnected, Carrie James's book on digital ethics
FOSI.org's Good Digital Parenting
The research of Global Kids Online
The Good Project at Harvard's School of Education
If you watch nothing else: "Parenting in a Digital Age" TED Talk by Prof. Sonia Livingstone
The International Bullying Prevention Association
Let Grow Foundation
Making Caring Common
Raising Digital Natives, author Devorah Heitner's site
Renee Hobbs at the Media Education Lab
MediaSmarts.ca
The New Media Literacies
Report of the Aspen Task Force on Learning & the Internet and our guide to Creating Trusted Learning Environments
The Ruler Approach to social-emotional learning (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence)
Sources of Strength
"Young & Online: Perspectives on life in a digital age" from young people in 26 countries (via UNICEF)
"Youth Safety on a Living Internet": 2010 report of the Online Safety & Technology Working Group (and my post about it)

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