Online bullying has become a favorite topic for handwringing among adults, but this week brought some tentative good news, as it seems all the efforts to raise awareness of bullying may actually be
paying off. Maybe. Depending which survey results you choose to believe.
According to a new survey by Cox Communications published as part of National Bullying Prevention Month, the proportion
of teens who reported being bullied online fell from 31% in 2013 to 24% this year. Meanwhile 60% of teens who reported being bullied online said they told an adult, up 20% from last year. Overall 54%
of teens said they have witnessed someone being bullied online.
Other surveys aren’t nearly as encouraging, however. In June a survey by McAfee found that 87% of teens and preteens
polled have witnessed cyberbullying, up from 27% last year (an optimistic interpretation might be that more people noticed cyberbullying, due to increased awareness).
In August We Heart It
surveyed millennial females who reported widespread cruelty in teen girls’ and young women’s online communities, driven by unhealthy group dynamics and personal rivalries. We Heart It
surveyed 5,000 female social media users, ages 13-24, and found that 66% had experienced bullying on Facebook, while 19% said they had been bullied on Twitter, and 9% were bullied on Instagram.
Obviously it isn’t clear quite where all this data leaves us. However my gut feeling is that overall awareness of bullying of all kinds (both online and “real world”) is
increasing, thanks in part to public service messages, in-school programs, and negative depictions in popular culture -- and that teens also generally agree that bullying is bad and needs to be
prevented. Here it’s worth noting the The New York Times recently called this group “Generation Nice,” in part because they have embraced the anti-bullying initiatives. Here’s
hoping the moniker is justified.