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Estimates of the number of teens who have experienced cyberbullying are all over the map. I can point you to a paper published in a peer-reviewed academic journal that says that 72% of students have been cyberbullied while another published study puts the number at 5.5%. The numbers are similarly varied when it comes to the number of students who have cyberbullied others. So how many teens have been involved?  Last summer we reviewed all of the published papers on cyberbullying to try to get a handle on this question. These results were published in our book Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives, which included contributions from a number of knowledgeable sources from around the United States (see a list of authors here).

As of the summer of 2011, there had been at least forty-two articles on the topic of cyberbullying published in peer-reviewed journals across a wide variety of academic disciplines. Although there are additional articles being published quite regularly and it is likely that we have missed some published works, this review represents the most comprehensive summary of available research findings at the time of its writing.

Among the thirty-five papers published in peer-reviewed journals prior to the summer of 2011 that included cyberbullying victimization rates, figures ranged from 5.5% to 72% with an average of 24.4% (see Chart 2.1). Most of studies (n=22) estimate that anywhere from 6% to 30% of teens have experienced some form of cyberbullying. These findings are consistent with our own research over the last ten years. As illustrated in this chart, the percent of youth who responded to our surveys who have experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lifetime ranged from 18.8% to 40.6% in our studies, with an average of 27.3%. Our most recent study based on data collected in the spring of 2010 found that about 21% of youth had been the target of cyberbullying. To be clear, this generally means that one out of every five kids you know has been cyberbullied.

Relatedly, the number of youth who admit to cyberbullying others at some point in their lives is a bit lower, though quite comparable. Among twenty-seven papers published in peer-reviewed journals that included cyberbullying offending rates (see Chart 2.3), 3% to 44.1% of teens reported cyberbullying others (average of 18%). Across all of our studies (see this chart), the rates ranged from about 11% to as high as 20% in our most recent study. The average percent of youth who reported cyberbullying others in our studies was 16.8%. This once again means that, generally speaking, slightly less than one out of every five adolescents you know has at some point cyberbullied someone else. These rates are also consistent with the weight of the available research conducted by others.

Much of the variation in the figures reported across these studies can be explained by the methodology utilized. For example, some researchers define cyberbullying very broadly (any online harm), whereas others define it more narrowly (repeated harassment using cell phones). Moreover, some studies sample middle school students and others target high school-aged youth. Some studies ask students to report any experience they have had during their lifetime while others focus on cyberbullying experienced in the previous 30 days. Some use online samples while others survey students at school or in their homes. The variations are endless!  As you might expect, those studies that sampled older students who were online using a broad definition of cyberbullying were more likely to report higher prevalence rates. Some of the lower rates were found from phone surveys where respondents might not be fully forthcoming with their experiences since mom or dad or someone else may have been listening in on the conversation. There are strengths and weaknesses in every research methodology and we just need to be mindful of what those are.

Despite the range of figures reported in the research, the actual number of youth who experience cyberbullying (either as an aggressor or target) is probably lower than some would have you believe. Some media reports would like us to think that we are in the midst of a “cyberbullying epidemic” or that cyberbullying is “increasing dramatically!”  From my perspective if just one teen experiences cyberbullying it is too many, and Sameer and I work to reduce the number, no matter how large it is. But it is misleading to characterize cyberbullying as an epidemic that is out of control.  Research doesn’t support that conclusion. To be fair, research does demonstrates that teens are reluctant to tell adults about their experiences with cyberbullying, so the numbers reported in the above studies could be a bit low. That said, anonymous and confidential research is usually much more reliable than other methods of determining adolescent experiences with problematic or deviant behavior.

As researchers we have to look at all of the available evidence (both quantitative and qualitative, formal and informal) to determine a reasonable estimate of the number of youth who experience cyberbullying. From that perspective I think it is likely that at least 20-25% of school-aged youth have experienced cyberbullying at some point recently (within a few months). And while we don’t see any compelling evidence that this number has increased significantly over the last 10 years, we will continue to follow trends to see if that changes. Of course more research is necessary and we will evaluate and analyze any new figures that come out in the coming years so that we can refine our understanding and assess any changes that might be occurring over time.

For more information, please see:

Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2012). Cyberbullying: An Update and Synthesis of the Research. In J. W. Patchin and S. Hinduja (Eds.), Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives (Chapter 2, pp. 13-35). New York: Routledge.

At the Cyberbullying Research Center we strive to approach the issue of teen technology use and misuse from a data-informed perspective. Just to be clear, data doesn’t just mean bar charts. Over the last ten years we have formally surveyed over 12,000 middle and high school students, so yes, we have a lot of bar charts. But we have also spoken to thousands of teens in schools all around the United States (and abroad). We get emails and phone calls daily from teens, parents, educators, and others who care about the online behaviors of young people. We have done focused interviews with small groups of students. We also review research articles written by other scholars (both published and unpublished). All of these are valuable sources of data. Taken together, we can start to develop a more comprehensive understanding of what is really going on.

Some data sources are definitely better than others, and we take into consideration the quality of the source and the sophistication of the methodology when interpreting results. Randomly selecting participants from a known sample is much better, for example, than arbitrarily selecting people who happen to be at a particular place and time.

To illustrate, I was recently at a school where a teacher told me that *every* student at her school that she had talked to had “either seen or engaged in sexting.” When pressed, she admitted that this wasn’t a “scientific survey,” just a questioning of a few of the students coming out of the cafeteria one day. So she extrapolated that to estimate that “everyone” at her school was in some way involved in sexting. Of course this is ridiculous. I haven’t seen a sexting study report prevalence rates higher than 31% for receiving a “sext” and most studies put the rate in the teens. In fact the Crimes Against Children Research Center recently reported that only 7.1% of students between the ages of 10 and 17 had received a “sext” (and this was a nationally representative survey – about as good as you can get methodologically).

So whenever I find a particular statistic cited, the first thing I do is attempt to uncover the original source and then review the methodology. What was the sample? How were participants selected to be in that sample? What specific questions were asked? Take once again the issue of sexting. How exactly is “sexting” defined? If you ask teens whether they have *ever* seen a nude or semi-nude image of another person on a cell phone, the number who say yes will likely be very high (if they are being truthful). If you ask them, on the other hand, if they had seen a nude or semi-nude image of another student from their school in the last 30 days, the number will be much lower. This is the question that we asked in our research, but even it can be misinterpreted. I mean, what exactly is “semi-nude?”

This brings me to the original point of this post. I have seen too many times to count the statistic that “over 160,000 students stay home every school day due to bullying.” Here are some representative examples:

“Bullying Statistics”

“Facts About Bullying”

“Bullied to Death in America’s Schools”

“Things You Should Know About Bullying”

I have also seen it twice in the last week in summaries for bullying prevention programs being offered by experts. I even found it in a 1993 article in the New York Times. Interestingly, I see it most commonly cited in news reports and governmental reports. Do a Google search for that statistic and you will see it thousands of times. But where did it come from? It has been attributed to many different sources (ABC News, National Education Association, and several books).  Most commonly, it is credited to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At least one CDC report cites a book written in 1998 (Real boys: Rescuing our sons form the myths of boyhood by William Pollack). That book attributes the statistic to the National Association of School Psychologists, but doesn’t provide a specific citation to a specific study or source. So where did it come from? I have put the question to some of the brightest minds in the area of bullying prevention and research and nobody knows. So if anyone out there has a specific study that includes this statistic, I would love to see it.

There is no question that too many students stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying.  The exact number is difficult to really know.  But it does this field a disservice to mis-cite or simply report statistics without being able to substantiate them.  Bullying *is* a serious problem that warrants our attention.  But the case can be made for this using reliable and valid statistics, not hyperbole.

Much of our work over the last several years has focused on identifying the consequences associated with cyberbullying. We are especially interested in offline behaviors or experiences, as well as links to delinquency and school problems. And we are concerned with the outcomes of both targets and those who engage in cyberbullying. One particular problem behavior that we have found to be linked to cyberbullying is substance use. According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Study, about 21% of high school seniors said they used marijuana and about 19% smoked cigarettes in the previous 30 days. About 41% of the seniors said they consumed alcohol in the last 30 days. Experimentation with illicit substances appears to be relatively common in high school, though a significant proportion of this population abstains from use.

We published a paper in 2008 which found the students who reported substance use (consumed alcohol or smoked marijuana) were significantly more likely to be involved in cyberbullying (both as a victim and offender – but the offender relationship was stronger) – see page 143 this paper. I also just quickly ran the relationship with our most recent data (about 4000 students from last school year) and found that those who used marijuana were 1.5 times more likely to be the victim of cyberbullying and 1.7 times more likely to engage in cyberbullying (both in the last 30 days while controlling for gender and age). Very similar findings were found for traditional bullying as well. So there clearly is a relationship between substance use and experience with bullying and cyberbullying.

It is important to acknowledge that since we have not yet been able to conduct a longitudinal study where we follow the same individuals over time, it is impossible for us to say that experience with cyberbullying causes teens to use drugs or consume alcohol. It is just as possible that using drugs causes teens to cyberbully others. All we can say is that the two or more behaviors are connected in some way. In fact it is quite likely that both cyberbullying and substance use are both related to some third variable (such as family problems or stressful life events). That said, this is additional evidence that what happens online is related to offline behaviors (and perhaps vice-versa). As always, there is more research that needs to be done.

Much of our work to teach adults about what teens are doing online is directed toward educators or parents, but increasingly we are working with law enforcement officers – especially those assigned to a school setting (school resource or liaison officers). Like the others, police officers often find themselves in a difficult situation when confronted with a cyberbullying incident because of unfamiliarity with the technology or ambiguity in currently laws not designed to address such behaviors. Despite deficiencies in the law, most officers recognize that their role goes beyond simply enforcement. This is especially true for school-based officers who are mentors, educators, investigators, first responders, and so much more. Even when it comes to responding to cyberbullying or other teen technology misuse, law enforcement officers should be encouraged to use their discretion to “handle” the particular situation in an informal and creative way, when appropriate. Threats of arrest or detention don’t usually deter students from misbehaving, because they often feel invincible or able to elude the law. But the student who develops a strong bond to an officer will no doubt follow the law voluntarily in order to avoid disappointing their mentor. This is related to the broader issue of the importance of developing a caring and respectful climate at school—one in which the school law enforcement officer is a contributing part.

Over the last couple of years, we have formally surveyed approximately 1,000 law enforcement officers (including over 300 school resource officers) to better understand their unique perspectives concerning cyberbullying and other online behavioral problems. I will be presenting some of this research at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association later this week in Chicago. In general, over 85% of the officers surveyed said that cyberbullying was a serious concern that warrants the response of law enforcement. Almost 90% of the school resource officers had dealt with a cyberbullying case “sometimes” or “often.” Interestingly, though, about 25% of the school resource officers and over 40% of the traditional law enforcement officers didn’t know if their state had a law specific to cyberbullying. If you are one of those people, see our summary here.

So what we have learned in our preliminary research and discussions with law enforcement officers is that they realize they have a role to play, but they need more training. More and more states are passing laws on bullying and cyberbullying and while most of the legislation focuses on the responsibilities of educators, many school administrators are turning to their law enforcement partner for assistance. If you are a school-based officer, then you are in the right place to learn about these issues. If you are an educator or parent, you might want to pass our site on to them so they have a resource to turn to.

If we want to stop cyberbullying, all of the adults who interact with students need to recognize it as something worth stopping. That means we should talk with adolescents about online responsibility and integrity and intervene when we see or hear something inappropriate. Again, that doesn’t mean we should arrest and formally sanction those who engage in bullying. We have long argued that most cyberbullying cases should be handled informally. I believe that law enforcement officers should be in on these efforts as well. We need to remember that the primary goal is to get the bullying, no matter where it is happening, to stop. The more we accept that as our underlying mission, the easier it will become to see what needs to be done.

Given the prominence of several high-profile incidents in recent months, cyberbullying has been all over the media. As a result, parents, educators, and other youth-serving adults are looking for information to educate themselves about this problem. Even though cyberbullying may seem fairly new to many, a core group of researchers and Internet safety advocates have been exploring this problem for years and therefore have a unique, empirically informed perspective to offer. Even before much of the recent attention on cyberbullying, Sameer and I came up with the idea to approach these experts and invite them to contribute a chapter for a cyberbullying book. We identified a hand-picked selection of contributors who we feel best understand cyberbullying issues and are widely recognized as authorities on this topic. In addition to these select experts, we wrote two chapters (one summarizing the current state of the research and another directed toward school-based law enforcement officers. Our vision was to collect in one text all of the major issues adults need to be aware of with respect to cyberbullying identification, prevention, and response. The result is our new book: Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives, which will be in print on June 24th, 2011.

We hope that Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives will serve as the definitive guide to assist you in addressing the ways teens misuse technology to cause harm to their peers. This book voices the views and experiences of the best and brightest youth online risk professionals in the United States. The knowledge and resources shared in this book are guided by research, but presented in an accessible way that will be useful for all who work with teens. What is more, they can be considered some of the “best practices” currently known regarding preventing and responding to cyberbullying. We hope that you benefit greatly from what is shared throughout the following chapters:

Table of Contents
1. A “Living Internet”: Some Context for the Cyberbullying Discussion, Anne Collier
2. Cyberbullying: An Update and Synthesis of the Research, Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja
3. Cyberbullying and the Law, Nancy Willard
4. Youth Views on Cyberbullying, Patricia Agatston, Robin Kowalski, and Susan Limber
5. Cyberbullying: How School Counselors Can Help, Russell Sabella
6. Empowering Bystanders, Stan Davis and Charisse Nixon
7. You Mean We Gotta Teach That, Too? Mike Donlin
8. A “Toolbox” of Cyberbullying Prevention Initiatives and Activities, Jenny Walker
9. Responding to Cyberbullying: Advice for Educators and Parents, Elizabeth K. Englander
10. School Law Enforcement and Cyberbullying, Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin
Appendix A: Select Cyberbullying Curricula, Lesson Plans, and Materials
Appendix B: List of States with Bullying and Cyberbullying Laws

As a pre-publication promotion, the publisher (Routledge) is offering a 20% discount on books ordered through their Web site. Just enter the discount code “ERJ60″ after the book is added to your shopping cart. If you would like to place a bulk order of this book, let us know and we can get you an even deeper discount! As always, we appreciate any feedback you have about our publications and resources. Don’t hesitate to drop us a note to tell us what you think.