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I really liked this article on “Cyber-Mentors”, a relatively new program from BeatBullying (based in the UK) that is gaining traction. Justin and I believe strongly in the power of older students and youth to provide guidance and advice to younger students as it relates to peer conflict (especially the online variant). Many of the mentors who participate in this program have experienced or witnessed cyberbullying, and are therefore in a unique position to offer counsel as they are personally and emotionally invested in helping the target of harassment in cyberspace. BeatBullying is working to become a 24/7 resource, and provide help to American youth as well; they currently work with hundreds of kids a week in a direct, physical capacity and thousands in a virtual capacity. They have recently elected Professor Tanya Byron to be their president.  This is really encouraging to me because she believes in the importance of rigorous research as the foundation of any program.

This article discusses two bills currently being considered on the American legislative landscape: Representative Linda Sanchez’s (D-CA) “Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act” (H.R. 1966) and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-FL) “Adolescent Web Awareness Requires Education Act” (H.R. 3630).

Justin and I are personally a big fan of Schultz’s AWARE Act, because education is the most vital and integral component of our nation’s comprehensive plan to address cyberbullying. School professionals, parents, and children should be taught useful, specific strategies to deal with peer conflict online, be armed with the tools to overcome such harassment, and be provided with numerous, readily available outlets and resources to assist them.  I applaud the initiative to educate.  With this said, we simply hope that such efforts are implemented with wisdom informed by empirical research on the topic.

Over the years, numerous educational programs have been implemented nationwide to combat problematic youth behaviors in society.  For instance, the DARE program has, historically speaking, been a mainstay anti-drug initiative for decades, even though the reviews are mixed on its efficacy.  To note, the program has undergone a recent major revision, and is currently being evaluated.  Underage drinking has also been a huge issue, addressed through graphic slideshows of wreck victims or haunting stories from those who have lost loved ones – and it is questionable whether this has made a difference at all since youth are so desensitized to car accidents, injury, and death.  Justin and I just want to make sure that the grants doled out through the AWARE Act actually accomplish their intent – because we have just seen too much wastage and futility in recent years with other educational efforts intended to address social problems among adolescents.  Comprehensive evaluations of program efforts (both process and outcome) must be a condition of funding so that we will know exactly what was done and the effect that it had.

With increased transparency, oversight, and accountability promised by our new President, I want to believe for the best.  I want to believe that we’ll actually do something right this time, and truly stem the tide of the problem at hand.  To accomplish this, we must actively check, measure, analyze, refine, and assess the utility of educational programming implemented to combat cyberbullying.  We hope to lend a hand towards this end, and will keep you updated.

Our colleague Adam Thierer from the Progress & Freedom Foundation has recently published an informative white paper worth reading entitled “Cyberbullying Legislation: Why Education is Preferable to Regulation.” Justin and I keep having to point out in various conversations that strictly punitive strategies fall short in their effort to deter misbehavior, especially among a youthful population that does not tend to think about long-term implications or consequences.  We continue to champion efforts to educate and raise awareness among youth, and believe that formal research must continually occur to identify patterns and trends in cyberbullying while also discovering its causes and consequences across large groups of adolescents. Along these lines, in the next few weeks we’ll be sharing with you our most recent findings from data collected in May of this year.