Cyberbullying Research Center Blog

Sexting – A Brief Guide for Educators and Parents

Sameer — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:22:21 +0000

Justin and I have just written a new fact sheet on Sexting, based on requests that we have received and feedback from previous blog posts. It first provides a definition we’ve crafted, and describes the phenomenon for the layreader. Then, we discuss two major cases that made national attention before reviewing the current state [...]

A Student Guide to Personal Publishing

Justin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:59:58 +0000

Sameer and I recently wrote a concise “Student Guide to Personal Publishing” which was published by Jostens (the class ring and yearbook company). They contacted us looking for information they could provide to students, parents, and educators about being safe and responsible when publishing material both online and off. While we regularly discuss these issues [...]

Cyberbullying and School Climate

Sameer — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:16:51 +0000

There has been a lot of talk about improving school climate recently, in line with the U. S. Department of Education’s new focus for public schools across the nation (and their Safe and Supportive Schools initiative). I have recently discussed it in January at a NCPC summit, and covered it briefly two weeks ago [...]

Offline and Online Cultural Messaging about Girls and Sexuality

Sameer — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:45:16 +0000

I was recently walking around with a friend and saw a girl (who looked to be around nine years of age) wearing a shirt that proclaimed “Born to be SEXY” – which caught me off guard. Not to be a prude, but it bothers me that cultural messaging strategies continue to induce girls to think [...]

Patterson v. Hudson Overturned

Justin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:06:19 +0000

Back in March I wrote about this case, where a federal jury had ordered the Hudson Area School District in Michigan to pay $800,000 in damages to a student who was repeatedly harassed by classmates (and allegedly staff) for a period of several years. A federal district court had been reviewing the facts of the [...]

My talk at the US Department of Education Bullying Summit – on CSPAN

Sameer — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:44:30 +0000

My presentation entitled “Cyberbullying: What We Know, What We Can Do” at the US Department of Education Bullying Summit on August 11, 2010 was broadcast on CSPAN. You can view the event in its entirety here or fast-forward to 14:28 to watch my segment. Do let me know if you have any questions!

US Department of Education Bullying Summit this week

Sameer — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:59:37 +0000

I will be in DC this week at the US Department of Education’s “Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit.” You can check out an agenda here, a participants list here, and additional reading materials here. My slides are included in the latter PDF as well. I have been asked to speak on the “Current State [...]

The Current State of Cyberbullying Laws

Justin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:03:56 +0000

It is imperative that everyone who works with youth, but especially law enforcement officers, stay up-to-date on the ever-evolving state and local laws concerning online behaviors, and equip themselves with the skills and knowledge to intervene as necessary. In recent survey of approximately 500 school resource officers from around the United States, we found that [...]

New Book Review of “Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard”

Sameer — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:57:25 +0000

Dr. Steve Taffee, Director of Strategic Projects at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California, has recently posted a very detailed, honest, and helpful review about our cyberbullying book. He has given me permission to share it with our blog readers, and so I have included it below: With Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying, [...]

New Details Emerge in the Phoebe Prince Tragedy

Justin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:43:15 +0000

We’ve discussed different elements of the Phoebe Prince case a number of times on this blog. Recall that Phoebe was the 15-year-old girl who committed suicide in January after being bullied and cyberbullied. She moved to South Hadley, Massachusetts, from Ireland at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. Being the new [...]