Cyberbullying research findings on prevalence, gender patterns, and reporting

¶ … target audience for all of these is researchers who are studying cyberbullying. The findings contained within these papers are then used to produce resources for government, for educators and for parents. There is no contact information -- these are academic papers and can be found via Google Scholar or academic databases.

Qi, L. (2005). New bottle but old wine: A research of cyberbullying in schools. Computers in Human Behavior. Retrieved March 28, 2016 from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.520.3422&rep=rep1&type=pdf

This article found that over 50% of grade seven students had experienced bullying in school, while around one-quarter experienced cyberbullying. The survey found that 60% of cyberbullying victims are female, and just over 50% of the perpetrators are male. The survey found that most cyberbullying incidents go unreported. This report came at a time when people were just starting to understand the issue. The survey is one of many different surveys that helped to frame the issue, such as understanding who the perpetrators and victims are, how widespread cyberbullying is, and whether or not it is reported. Ultimately, the fact that cyberbullying goes unreported most of the time supports other findings on the subject. This survey is most useful when combined with other surveys.

Smith, P., Mahdavi, J., Carvalho, M., Fisher, S., Russell, S., Tippett, N. (2008). Cyberbullying: its nature and impact in secondary school pupils. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Vol. 49 (4) 376-385.

This study came about at the beginning of the social media age. The authors again found that cyberbullying is less prevalent than traditional bullying, but also found that it tends to occur outside of school more than it does in school. The survey found that while rare at the time, "mobile phone/video bullying," which can be interpreted today as social media bullying, was the most negatively impactful for the victims. Other forms of bullying have an impact similar to regular bullying. Many cyberbullying victims are traditional bullying victims as well, and their vulnerability online was correlated with their online use. Again, it was found that most cyberbullying incidents went unreported.

Li, Q. (2006). Cyberbullying in schools: A research of gender differences. School Psychology International. Vol. 27 (2006) 157.

This article builds on Li's previous work. It investigated the gender angle more thoroughly, finding once again that males are more likely to be cyberbullies, roughly in line with their likelihood to be bullies in general. Female cyberbully victims were more likely to report the incident than male victims, however. One of the other findings, quite interesting, was that just over 50% of student respondents were even aware of cyberbullying, that is just above the combined percentage of bullies and victims. This points to a general lack of awareness among students at the time -- if they were not directly involved in cyberbullying they were generally unaware of it at all.

Slonje, R. & Smith, P. (2008). Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying? Personality and Social Sciences. Vol. 49 (2008) 147-154

This is another survey to understand the nature and extent of cyberbullying. The authors did not find significant gender differences. The authors also found that picture/video forms of bullying were the most harmful, something backed up by other studies. Cyberbullying was more prevalent in lower levels of schooling, perhaps as children are less knowledgable and responsible with respect to their technology usage. Again, it was found that most victims do not report the cyberbullying, which contributes to a general lack of knowledge among adults of the issue, which in turn leads to a lack of knowledge as to what to do about it.

Tokunaga, R. (2010). Following you home from school: A critical review and synthesis of research on cyberbullying victimization. Computers in Human Behavior. Vol. 26 (2010) 277-287.

This article is a summary of findings from other research.. The research shows among other things no consistent gender difference, that the prevalence of cyberbullying in high, and that it can be extremely damaging socially, psychologically and academically. The negative outcomes are usually similar to those of traditional bullying. Most of what the author says is redundant, but there is value in the section recapping the coping strategies that have been identified in the literature -- controlling the flow of information that reaches students, confronting the bully or seeking the help of an adult.

The following are resources from people relaying anecdotes or experiences about cyberbullying.

CyberBullying.org (2016).

This website is one of the most comprehensive resources about cyberbullying, though there have not been too many recent updates. There are anonymous anecdotes on the front page. These are brief, and they serve to describe what cyberbullying scenarios look like. The site's audience is pretty broad -- children, educators and parents alike -- so the scenarios are intended to illustrate the nature of the problem and the different guises that it takes. The individuals are anonymous -- they are minors, and cannot be contacted.

Hirsch, L. (2014). Cyberbullying. Kids Health.org. Retrieved March 29, 2016 from http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/cyberbullying.html

This is an introductory article -- again, the information online is not as good as what's in the academic journals. It provides a rough overview of the topic, aimed primarily at parents as the target market. There is advice about how to mitigate cyberbullying, and what to do if your child is the bully. This site provides this basic overview in the context of a wide variety of other kids health issues.

NoBullying.com (2016). The top six unforgettable cyberbullying cases ever. NoBullying.com. Retrieved March 29, 2016 from http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/

This page presents the worst case scenario fact of cyberbullying. It highlights how devastating its impact can be. The target market is both parents and educators, leading towards parents. The underlying theme is that parents often do not realize how prevalent nor how dangerous cyberbullying is. Many teenagers and children kill themselves as the result of cyberbullying, and that is what this page is intended to convey -- the consequences of cyberbullying are much worse than many parents think they are. The victims in these cases are deceased, but in some cases parents of these children operate websites to advocate against cyberbullying.

"Amanda Todd's story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self-harm" (2012). YouTube. Retrieved March 29, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7afkypUsc

This is the video that Amanda Todd made prior to her suicide, where she outlines with flash cards the details of her bullying. This is about as blunt and graphic a depiction of cyberbullying as can be found, from a now-deceased victim's own words. She describes the events that led to the bullying, and the context. Then she describes how it affected her life She writes of suicide attempts and cruel online reaction to these attempts. This video is chilling, powerful and provides a first-hand view of cyberbullying in a way that few other accounts can.