Citation

Pelfrey WV, Weber N. J. Youth Stud. 2014; 17(3): 397-414.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13676261.2013.830702

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Cyberbullying has become a mainstream topic in the media as an alarming number of teenagers have taken their lives due to bullying that has occurred in combined unsupervised spaces both in school and online. While suicide is a problem associated with intense cyberbullying and bullying behavior, there are, many more teenagers affected by 'everyday' cyberbullying and bullying behavior. Research is emerging about this phenomenon but there are deficits in understanding cyberbullying, identifying victims, and describing the impact of cyberbullying on both victims and perpetrators. Data from four focus groups (n = 24), with students in the sixth to twelfth grades show that they see cyberbullying differently than researchers' current definitions.

FINDINGS also indicate that cyberbullying is often connected to gossip and rumors and the outcomes of cyberbullying participation vary widely. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

Language: en

Keywords

qualitative; cyberbullying; gossip and rumors; school policy