by Larry Magid
Two studies released this week shed some light on the issue of bullying and, by implication, cyberbullying. One found that bullying is actually on the decline while the other determined that talking with an adult or a friend was most likely to “make things better.”
Both of these studies were about physical bullying, but there is a very strong link between bullying in the “real world” and cyberbullying. Though there are cases of teens using the Internet or cell phones to harass or bully people they’ve never met, most cyberbullying cases involve kids who know each from the real world, typically from school. In a 2008 study of middle schoolers conducted by Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin, 82 percent said that the person who bullied them is either from their school (26.5 percent), a friend (21.1 percent), an ex-friend (20 percent) or an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend (14.1 percent).
Other studies have shown a strong correlation between cyberbullying and physical bullying which is why two just-released studies on physical bullying are relevant to online bullying as well.
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