Bullying Teen Aggression Social Media – For Girls’ Safety

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?