A new study by the pew research center has highlighted that online harassment and bullying isn’t isolated to kids and teens. It seems that adults have become more comfortable with speaking their mind online even if what’s on their mind isn’t very nice. The study shows 27 percent of adults admit to being called “names” on social media and as many as 41 percent say they’ve been harassed in some way. This was up from 23% being called names and 35% being harassed in 2014.
Obviously social media was the most popular platform that people reported seeing harassment. Men were the most harassed except for sexual harassment cases, more women admitted to being victims of unwanted sexual content including images sent over messaging. You can see more of the results in the chart below.
What Parents Should Know
How can we expect our kids and teens to stop or report bullying if we are participating as well? What example are we showing our kids when we profane someone because they disagree with something we said or shared online? Just because we aren’t face to face doesn’t mean the words don’t have an effect. These are things we should be teaching our kids but we obviously need to heed these warning ourselves.
We’ve all heard the old adage, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Apparently we have forgotten that what we say online still has consequences. This is the exact message that I have shared with teenagers and kids all over the country and I can guarantee I’ll be sharing the same message with adults now as well.