Yet when journalists (and law enforcement, talking heads and politicians) imply that teenage suicides are directly caused by bullying, we reinforce a false narrative that has no scientific support.
"Submit the Documentary exposes the most epic struggle in the digital, Internet age: cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying by means of electronic technology committed through email, instant messaging, mobile applications, social media, chat rooms, and blogs or through messages and images sent through a cell phone. Because of the anonymity, kids who never thought of being a bully are becoming harassers. By exploring the complicated dynamics behind cyberbullying, Submit the Documentary describes the impact and outcomes of advanced technology and human nature in a lawless, new, social frontier."
When it came time to gauge students' views on bullying last week, Long Middle School decided to take advantage of a device many of the students already had handy - cell phones.
But there are also kids who act as upstanders. These are the kids who actively try to break the cycle, whether by sticking up for the target, addressing the bully directly, or notifying the appropriate authorities about what's going on.
Pew Internet & American Life Project for the Family Online Safety Institute
and Cable in the Classroom--concluded that "[m]ost American teens who use social
media say that in their experience, people their age are mostly kind to one
another on social network sites." Nearly seven in ten (69 percent) of teens said
that peers are mostly kind while 20 percent said peers are mostly unkind with 11
percent saying, "it depends."