School may be out for the summer but experts say, with today's youth constantly connected to technology, cyberbullying has become an even more serious and pervasive social issue that's difficult to fight.
The National Academics of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published a report in May stating that this 24/7 access to technology, combined with the speed at which it's evolving, is making bullying even more of a public health issue.
Just talking about it isn't enough anymore, especially when the consequences are so high.
Combine more free time and less adult supervision and kids are more likely to engage in cyberbuylling behavior, especially outside of your typical classroom setting," Dr. Pamela Schuetze, Professor of Psychology at Buffalo State College said.
Understanding the ramificiations for both those who are bulleid and those doing the bullying is very important.
According to Dr. Schuetze, kids who bully often times were bullied themselves and use it as a coping mechanism.
"We as a society have to understand the damaging effects bullying can have. It could be just name calling, but remeber, what once used to be one child calling another child a name with only three peole hearing is now name calling that could be spread amongst thousands of people," she continued.
Parents, regulating how your kids engage with technology can be challenging. Try putting all devices in public places within the house and take away all devices at bedtime, these are two tips that may help.
