Progress has been made slowly but surely in the area of reducing cyberbullying and there are several
reasons why this is true. Major stake holders such as national media companies, parents, educators
and even teens themselves have caused this turn around. According to research conducted by Cox
Communications in the year 2014, there is a decrease in cyberbullying among adolescents when
compared to this time last fall; 24% percent of teenagers have been cyberbullied vs. 31% in 2013
("Cox Survey..."). High profile companies, such as Cox and Cartoon Network have launched public
interest campaigns that encourage teens, parents, and educators to all speak up when cyberbullying
occurs. Parents often pay an influencial role in preventing cyberbullying by placing the computer
in a public space in the home to detect their children's possible additional logins and passwords and
which social networks they frequently visit, and most importantly by discussing cyberbullying with
their children and by letting them know it is not their fault if they fall victim to a cyberbully attack.
Parents who assure their children that their computer privileges will not be revoked if they inform
them of experiencing cyberbullying are much more likely to help prevent serious future ongoing
harrassment ("What Parents..."). Educators are playing a powerful role by instituting academic and
institutional sanctions against known cyberbullies. "When caught, cyberbullies may be pulled from
sports teams or suspended or expelled from school" ("How to Beat..."). Perhaps most importantly,
more and more friends of teens who have been victims of cyberbullying are speaking up for and
standing by their peers, both efforts of which result in a more public and effective way than exsited
to get out the message that cyberbullying is totally unacceptable.
Bibliography
"Cox Survey: Cyberbullying Continues, But More Teens Are Speaking Up." Mental Health
Weekly Digest 13 Oct. 2014:65. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 1 Dec. 2014
"How to Beat Cyberbullying." Digital Literacy. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2014. Web.
3 December 2014
"What Parents Can Do About cyberbullying." National Crime Prevention Council.
Crime Prevention Council, 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2014
National