Social Media and Cyberbullying: Implementation of School-Based Prevention Efforts and Implications for Social Media Approaches

Schools worldwide are being charged by legislators to take action to reduce cyberbullying because of its potential to disrupt the educational process, create a hostile environment, and threaten students’ feelings of safety and mental well-being at school.  EDC was funded through Facebook’s inaugural Digital Citizenship Research Grant program to learn about the implementation of school-based cyberbullying prevention efforts during the time following the passage of strict anti-bullying legislation in the state of Massachusetts. This resource highlights the learning objectives,  background information, methods, findings, and conclusion of this study.Through a systematic review of school anti-bullying policies, interviews with school administrators, and inperson and online focus groups with parents and youth, Education  Development Center collected data on cyberbullying prevention and intervention efforts in 25 communities in the MetroWest Boston region. These multiple perspectives provided an in-depth understanding of the successes and challenges encountered in school-based anti-bullying strategies, leading to recommendations for expanding school-based initiatives as well as informing the education and outreach efforts of social media sites.

Age Group: 
Elementary
Secondary