Bullying and cyberbullying: risks for involvement and opportunities for intervention

This symposium brings together five papers examining bullying and cyberbullying behaviours among young people. Research has consistently shown that bullying and cyberbullying has negative consequences for those involved, therefore it is vital that the potential risk factors for involvement are understood in order to develop evidenced-based interventions (Monks & Coyne, 2011). Furthermore, it is imperative that well-designed evaluations of intervention/prevention programmes are conducted (Smith, Pepler & Rigby, 2004). The research presented here has examined experiences of young people from 7 countries (within and outside of Europe). The first paper (Romera, Ortega-Ruiz, Rodríguez-Barbero & García Fernández) examines Spanish pupils’ perceptions of bullying through their drawings and self-reports – identifying the importance of social factors as potential risks for bullying. The second paper (Maunder & Monks) also explores social factors in relation to bullying, studying bullying within friendships among UK pupils using reports of who bullies whom and examining friendship relationships. Building on this, the third paper (Monks) studies how experiences of bullying and defending behaviour in young children relate to aggression, dominance and friendships. The fourth paper is a cross-national study of bullying and cyberbullying in the UK and Qatar (Samara, El Asam, Sherif, Smith, Khattab, Morsi & Davidson). It examines the nature of bullying and cyberbullying and identifies similar correlates for involvement, including psychological, health and behaviour problems. The final paper presents the evaluation of a cybermentoring scheme involving young people to combat cyberbullying in 6 EU countries (Thompson, Smith & Jessel). The paper evaluates perceptions of training for the scheme and the impact on the mentors and perceived changes in school climate. Taken together, these papers explore the risk factors for involvement in bullying and cyberbullying considering both individual and peer group factors, and the importance of socially orientated intervention/prevention work involving young people themselves.