New NCPC Ad Campaign Aims to Delete Cyberbullying

Al Lenhardt, NCPC President and CEO

Delete any form of cyberbullying as it crosses the screen of your computer. Don’t write it. Don’t forward it. This is the newest advice from McGruff the Crime Dog and the National Crime Prevention Council. If a pre-teen or teen is harassed, demeaned, or abused online, that’s cyberbullying. So is spreading malicious rumors or gossip.

Teens aged 13 to 17 spend a lot of time online. They use the Internet to talk to friends, gather information for reports, create their own web pages, look up sports scores, and check out movie times.  They have access to the Internet at home, at school, and at friends’ houses.  Unlike children and tweens, teens are largely unsupervised by their parents while online.

Recently the National Crime Prevention Council commissioned a national online survey of middle and high school students ages 13 to 17 on cyberbullying. This study, by Harris Interactive®, set out to determine how teens define cyberbullying, explore their experiences with cyberbullying, understand teens’ emotional and behavioral reactions to cyberbullying, and probe what teens think would be the most effective ways to prevent cyberbullying. The survey found that

• About four in ten teens experienced cyberbullying at least one time in the last year.
• Girls report having been cyberbullied more than boys—a rate of 51 percent to 37 percent.
• Only one in ten teens who experienced cyberbullying had talked to their parents about it.
• Teens see the most effective strategy to stop cyberbullying as a combination of using online blocking technology and taking personal responsibility, simply not passing cyberbullying messages to others and telling their friends and the cyberbully to stop.
• Nearly six in ten teens said cyberbullies don’t see their actions as a “big deal.”

Teens believe that cyberbullying prevention needs to occur at three levels—individual, online, and parents. Teens believe the most effective way to prevent cyberbullying is to be able to block people who cyberbully from communicating with them, refusing to pass along cyberbullying messages, and telling their friends to stop cyberbullying. Unlike face-to-face bullying, teens do not view cyberbullying as an issue to be addressed by the school and report that school intervention would be largely ineffective.

Results of the survey helped shape the new ad campaign from NCPC. Radio advertising, viral video, and web banners reach kids where they consume their media most—online and on the radio. New response pieces will accompany the messages from McGruff and NCPC . These pieces include downloadable tips for kids and parents on dealing with cyberbullying. The teen piece explains how teens are cyberbullied, how victims react, and offers tips on preventing cyberbullying and what else teens can do to keep cyber safe. The adult component offers statistics and information regarding cyberbullying, how to take action  against cyberbullying, and where to go for more information.

Cyberbullying is a new aspect of bullying, a major social problem that, left unchecked, can have huge implications for young people, leaving many of them with emotional scars that can remain into later life. By tackling cyberbullying, the latest incarnation of this terrible problem, we can help make sure that our children grow up in a healthy, positive environment that will enable their best qualities—especially their self-esteem—to thrive.