**4.1 School bullying is more common than online bullying**

Bullying is reported more frequently at school than online: 31% of youth report being bullied at school compared to 15% online; bully perpetration is reported by 14% of youth at school compared to 6% who bully others online. Moreover, an examination of the schoolonline overlap suggests that most youth are bullied or bully at school exclusively. Youth spend more hours in close immediate proximity with peers at school then they do at home or in their neighborhoods in the evening. Interactions in school are inherently social and the opportunities for conflict are plentiful (e.g., hallways, lunch, recess). It is not clear that online environments provide the same amount of time to bully others. Also too, school bullying is often perpetrated by individuals and groups of individuals with an audience present (O'Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999; Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Österman, & Kaukiainen, 1996) in order to promote the bully's popularity or maintain his or her high social status. The audience reinforces the behavior, thereby increasing the likelihood that it will continue. Although there is an audience online (e.g., Facebook), it is not clear what role this audience plays or how strongly their reinforcement is as it is being mediated through a computer screen. Perhaps part of the reason rates are higher at school is because the social reinforcement is stronger there.
