Witnesses of the Offense What Influences the Behavior of Bystanders of Cyberbullying?

By providing the audience of cyberbullying incidents, bystanders play a key role in the bullying process. Their behavior can decisively influence whether a bullying process stops or moves on. The factors that influence whether bystanders react in a victim supporting or perpetrator encouraging way were analyzed in an online survey among German adolescents (N=2,502, subsample size: N=1,556) in January 2010. The results show that sociodemographic variables such as sex, age and level of education, as well as perceived own Internet literacy do not influence bystanders' behavior. However, parental guidance of Internet use increases the probability that adolescents react in a victim supporting way. By contrast, adolescents' experience as bullies increases the probability of their reacting in a perpetrator encouraging way. The results show that prevention programs against cyberbullying should not only focus on adolescents but also on parents, to demonstrate to them that guiding the Internet use of their children affects their online behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]