Those numbers suggest that it’s more likely than not that your child will either be the target of bullying or the instigator.
Prevalent Perpetrators We think we know what a bully looks like. Pop culture paints an image of an alpha male or female who is either the star football player or head cheerleader. However, it’s not always that easy to identify the problem child, especially if
their misdeeds occur primarily online. More male students may be physically bullied than female (6 percent versus 4 percent), according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. Jennifer Knack, an associate professor of psychology at Clarkson University who has researched bullying for 15 years, points out that girls are typically socialized out of physical bullying and, instead, start using bullying tactics like ostracism or spreading rumors.
However, cyberbullying affects both genders. A 2018 Pew survey found that 59 percent of U.S. teens experienced some form of abusive online behavior and, unfortunately, it doesn’t stay within the confines of school property. Before social media, students who were bullied at school, on the school bus or in the neighborhood, could escape to the safety of their homes in the evenings. Now, with the >
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