Online bullying has declined in recent years as the popularity of mobiles has increased, leading to a rise in text bullying, according to a new study published in the latest edition of the journal Pediatrics.
The study, led by Michele Ybarra, research director at Internet Solutions for Kids, set out to examine levels of technology based violent experiences such as bullying, harassment, unwanted sexual experiences and hate sites between 2006 and 2008 among children in the US.
Around 1600 young people aged between 10 and 15 participated in the study. The findings revealed that around one third of respondents reported being very or extremely distressed by internet based sexual experiences whilst 20 to 25 per cent felt the same way about online harassment.
But unwanted sexual solicitation by text messaging was 1.9 times higher in 2008 than it was in 2006, representing a significant increase, that reflects the growing use of socialising via mobile phones among young people.
Dr Ybarra said: “Bullying is something that happens over time, repetitively, and between people of differential power. Harassment is more generally annoying and obnoxious behaviour. It can happen once or more often, between people of equal power or not.”
As part of the study researchers also measured technology-related exposure to violence in the news, death and hate sites on the web and adult sites. Many young people were unaware of what an online hate or death site was.
Viewing of violent cartoons dropped as participants got older, and minority adolescents were less likely to be victims of any kind of online or texting violence, the researchers found.
On Friday November 25, a seminar entitled: Cyber bullying on the rise: Can Things Change? is being held at the School of Business, Economics and Informatics at Birkbeck, University of London.
The seminar will involve a range of international experts from work and school to share their knowledge about cyber bullying, including Justin Patchin, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and advisor to the White House on the issue of cyber bullying.
The seminar is free to attend but booking is required as places are limited. Follow this link for further information.
