Chicago Teens Report Being Cyberbullied Well Above National Average
CHICAGO, Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Buckets Over Bullying, a non-profit initiative whose mission is to stop cyberbullying of children and teens through education, lawmaking and legal action, found in surveying Chicago public and private middle and high schoolers this month that cyberbullying is more prevalent in the community than national data suggests.
The data was collected from Chicago youth during a series of social media safety educational sessions at the Jesse White Community Center on Nov. 5, 2022 during the first Buckets Over Bullying Social Media Safety Rally held in partnership with the Organization for Social Media Safety, the Jesse White Foundation and the non-profit teen-led organization More Than Likes.
At the rally attended by more than 500+ teens and parents, Chicago middle schoolers and high schoolers took part in social media safety educational sessions where they were asked to respond using a digital clicker to a series of social media safety related questions that included:
- Have you been cyberbullied?
- A. I HAVE been cyberbullied (43%)
- B. I have NOT been cyberbullied (57%)
- How many hours a day do you use social media on average?
- A. 0 Hours (1%)
- B. 1-2 Hours (10%)
- C. 3-4 Hours (11%)
- D. 4-5 Hours (21%)
- E. 5-6 Hours (18%)
- F. 7+ Hours (39%)
- Have you seen hate speech on internet/social media?
- A. YES (91%)
- B. NO (9%)
- Have you seen videos of real-life violence on social media?
- A. YES (91%)
- B. NO (9%)
- Have you been a bystander?
- A. YES (80%)
- B. NO (20%)
Social media safety sessions where the students were surveyed at the rally were run by experienced topical educators, Ed Peisner and Marc Berkman, the founder and CEO respectively, from the Organization for Social Media Safety, an award-winning, national nonprofit that protects families from social media-related dangers through education, advocacy, and technology development. Separate age-appropriate sessions for students and parents included how to prevent cyberbullying; how to fight back against social media addiction; how to better identify and stop social media-motivated violence; and how to safely react and reduce hate speech on social media. Only the students participated in the interactive real-time surveying.
“What students from both private and public schools in Chicago shared with us at the Buckets Over Bullying event this month is reflective of what we are finding in our social media safety presentations at schools across the country, regardless of demographics,” Berkman said. “Social media is exposing school-aged children to serious risks like cyberbullying, depression, violence, and hate speech, among others. Our data suggests that we urgently need to raise awareness among parents and educators of the potential ramifications of excessive social media use among children.”
