**4.2 School bullying is more distressing than online bullying**

Online bullying may be different or more distressing than offline bullying because of the ability to hide one's identity, and the rapidity and breadth with which the information is disseminated. Our data do not support this hypothesis, however. Twice as many youth bullied at school (38%) indicate that they feel very or extremely upset by the most serious incident compared to youth bullied online (15%). Moreover, while many more youth (46%) report not knowing their bully online compared to school, 12% report they do not know their bully at school. It seems that the differential power inherent in keeping one's identity secret is more commonly utilized online, but it is possible offline as well (e.g., rumors spread around school).

#### **4.3 Bullying happens other places as well**

Importantly, 11% of youth report being bullied on the way to and from school, and 14% "somewhere else"; 4% and 6% report bullying perpetration in these respective environments. This serves as a useful reminder that the online/offline discussion does not implicitly mean online/school. Young people have to safely navigate a multitude of environments each day. Our challenge as researchers is to understand how the experiences of youth are similar and different by environment so that our public policy initiatives and interventions can be general when appropriate and environment-specific when need be.

#### **4.4 Few youth have a never-ending bullying experience**

Another concern some have is that technology has created a world in which victims cannot hide from bullies. This may be the case for some youth, but it does not appear to be the common experience. Most youth are not involved in bullying at all. Among victimized youth, the most common victimization experience is being victimized in one versus multiple

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

Online bullying may be different or more distressing than offline bullying because of the ability to hide one's identity, and the rapidity and breadth with which the information is disseminated. Our data do not support this hypothesis, however. Twice as many youth bullied at school (38%) indicate that they feel very or extremely upset by the most serious incident compared to youth bullied online (15%). Moreover, while many more youth (46%) report not knowing their bully online compared to school, 12% report they do not know their bully at school. It seems that the differential power inherent in keeping one's identity secret is more commonly utilized online, but it is possible offline as well (e.g., rumors spread

Importantly, 11% of youth report being bullied on the way to and from school, and 14% "somewhere else"; 4% and 6% report bullying perpetration in these respective environments. This serves as a useful reminder that the online/offline discussion does not implicitly mean online/school. Young people have to safely navigate a multitude of environments each day. Our challenge as researchers is to understand how the experiences of youth are similar and different by environment so that our public policy initiatives and interventions can be general when appropriate and environment-specific when need be.

Another concern some have is that technology has created a world in which victims cannot hide from bullies. This may be the case for some youth, but it does not appear to be the common experience. Most youth are not involved in bullying at all. Among victimized youth, the most common victimization experience is being victimized in one versus multiple

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

**4.2 School bullying is more distressing than online bullying** 

reinforcement is stronger there.

**4.3 Bullying happens other places as well** 

**4.4 Few youth have a never-ending bullying experience** 

around school).

environments, with school being the one environment most often reported. This suggests that for the majority of youth who are involved in bullying, it is not necessarily something that follows them from the time they wake to the tiime they go to sleep. Nonetheless, there is a very concerning 5% of youth who report being bullied and 2% who report bullying others in four or all five of the environments we queried. Certainly, for these youth, bullying is an experience that likely seems inescapable. Given that they are bullied in multiple environments, this may mean that there are more opportunities to reach them with support and other intervention efforts. It is essential to take steps to identify and target this group of kids.

### **4.5 Unwanted sexual experiences happen at school and online with equal frequency**

Certainly, unwanted sexual encounters happening online have received the majority of academic research attention (Mitchell et al., 2001, 2007; Ybarra et al., 2004). A study conducted in 2000 among 2064 8-12th graders attending public school (American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, 2001) suggests that eight in ten students experience sexual harassment at school sometime in their lives. Rates of unwanted sexual experiences in the past year in the current study are the same at school (18%) and online (18%). Efforts to recognize and reduce unwanted sexual experiences in the schools need to receive just as much attention as those focused online.

While with good intention, recent public policy efforts to regulate social networking sites to reduce the risk of unwanted sexual encounters for adolescents (Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 2008) may not reach youth who are most vulnerable. Unlike bullying, youth who are victims of unwanted sexual experiences are more likely to report being targeted both online and at school (42%) compared to youth targeted at school only (29%) or online only (29%). Future research should focus on these dually-involved youth to better understand who they are and what researchers and other professionals working with adolescents might do to reduce their vulnerability online as well as offline.
