As students across the country moved to e-learning at the start of the pandemic, child advocates expressed concerned that online bullying and harassment might increase.
Sameer Hinduja is the co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center. He says no national statistics on this have been published yet, but it makes sense that during stressful times young people would be more susceptible to online aggressors.
He says because young people spend so much time online, it’s important to give them social tools so they know how to handle conflict.
“Parents should be trying to determine where their son or daughter is deriving their identity from," he says. "If you can tell that it’s based on peer perceptions, and likes, and comments- then I think that’s scary territory.”
He adds it is important to have conversations with children about what they might be experiencing online in a nonjudgmental way.
Hinduja says people should also consider that stressful experiences may make someone more likely to be an aggressor.
