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Bullying, Teen Aggression & Social Media – For Girls’ Safety

Editor: Roslyn K. Myers, J.D., M.A.


No longer shrugged off as part of growing up, bullying has been widely acknowledged as a problem with serious consequences for victims and perpetrators, schools and families ….

The pressure on educators, parents, mental health professionals, and law enforcement to identify and address antisocial behavior seems to increase every year, especially with the growing role of technology in the everyday lives of young people and the potential for social media to magnify the impact of aggressive behavior. Bullying does great harm to victims, but it also harms bystanders and perpetrators.  Studies show that teens who engage in bullying are more disruptive in school and more likely to engage in vandalism, shoplifting, reckless sexual activity, the use of drugs and alcohol, and more serious illegal activity. These cascading behaviors in turn can entangle school officials and parents in the civil and criminal system in ways that are emotionally and financially draining and unproductive. 

Government policy makers have set goals for a “safe and equitable learning environment for all students,” yet provide little guidance on how best to respond to bullying or what programs are effective.  Communities understand that bullying is wrong but need help dealing with the problem in ways that are reasonable, appropriate, measured, and produce good outcomes.  Bullying, Teen Aggression, and Social Media addresses this urgent need.

Bullying, Teen Aggression, and Social Media is the only publication devoted exclusively to understanding bullying, its causes, impacts, and complex dynamics, and to examining the most effective ways to stop it and prevent it.

BTASM examines developments in our understanding of bullying and aggression, features articles written by a broad range of experts in the field, explores the emergence and dynamics of cyberbullying and other technologies used abusively by teens, presents the latest scholarship, provides practical program approaches schools can implement on their own grounds, and offers information with no advocacy position except “what works.”

For everyone concerned about the problem and finding a solution—school officials, parents, professionals in psychology, law, health care, and community leaders responsible for the well-being of young people—BTASM  addresses the difficult questions raised by problem behaviors in youth, and offers answers emerging from current research:

  • What key indicators are signs that a child is being bullied?
  • What is the first thing a teacher should do when bullying occurs?
  • How can you build a successful on-campus anti-bullying campaign?
  • How can peers help victims of bullying?
  • Where does bullying happen? What are the top three places where physical aggression among teens takes place?
  • What should you never say to a victim of bullying?
  • How can school officials train victims of bullying to help themselves?
  • How can you recognize aggressive peer relationships among students, and when is it appropriate to intervene?
  • What does everyone need to know about cyberbullying and popular platforms such as Facebook, SnapChat, and Twitter?
  • How does bullying differ from bias-based violence, hate crimes, and other forms of teen aggression? What are the similarities?
  • How can you adapt restorative justice practices to address youth bullying in schools and community organizations?
  • What legal responsibility does the school administration have in bullying cases involving students?

BTASM helps readers understand the risks associated with teen aggression, the resulting victimization, and other forms of antisocial teen behavior; reports on legal developments in the education and related fields; and offers practical program approaches that schools can implement on their own grounds. BTASM has no partisan position; our goal is to answer the question of “what works” and how it works:

  • Current research on bullying and related phenomena including the psychological and sociological theories that explain bullying and other forms of teen aggression
  • Methods to mitigate risk factors for peer-on-peer victimization
  • Successful anti-bullying programs
  • Indicators for teens who may commit suicide as a result of bullying
  • Student "accountability circles" and other restorative justice practices
  • Myths vs. truths about bullying and teen aggression
  • Teen psychology of self-esteem and ostracism
  • Key cognitive development concepts and research on brain functioning in teens
  • The effects of bullying on learning outcomes
  • Parental involvement in preventing (or exacerbating) teen acts of violence or aggression
  • National anti-bullying initiatives