Facebook Firm Awards Grant to Indian American Cyberbullying Expert

An Indian American cyberbullying expert at Florida Atlantic University has recently received a sizeable grant to collect nationally representative data on the subject, as well as teen dating violence.

Indian American Sameer Hinduja, a cyberbullying expert at Florida Atlantic University, has received a nearly $200,000 grant to collect nationally-representative data on cyberbullying and teen dating violence. (FAU photo)

By India West Staff

An Indian American cyberbullying expert at Florida Atlantic University has recently received a sizeable grant to collect nationally representative data on the subject, as well as teen dating violence.

Sameer Hinduja, who is also the co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and professor of criminology and criminal justice at the university, was awarded the grant by Digital Trust Foundation, a company formed by Facebook.

The grant is for $188,776.

Hinduja, who received the 2015 Global Anti-bullying Hero award from Auburn University for his contributions on the subject, hopes the study will bring awareness on a national level to the scope of cyberbullying and electronic dating violence among the youth.

“Cyberbullying is a unique form of digital abuse that involves a range of tormenting, humiliating, threatening, embarrassing and harassing behaviors and has gained a lot of attention in recent years,” said Hinduja in an FAU report. “Many teens across the United States also experience dating violence that typically consists of various forms of mistreatment from insults and rumor spreads to threats and physical assaults.”

Hinduja earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Central Florida, and his M.S. and doctorate in the same subject from Michigan State University. He will collaborate with co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center Justin Patchin on the project.

The study will construct a panel of kids 12 to 17 years old throughout the nation, surveying them with parental consent.

The researchers intend to collect data on several factors such as perpetration and victimization, as well as negative outcomes originating from cyberbullying – as an aggressor or target.

According to the FAU report, cyberbullying and electronic dating violence have similarities, including employing technology, both leading to emotional, physical and behavioral consequences.

Hinduja said the study will help bring a better national perspective and provide more up-to-date data.

Results of the study will be disseminated through blogs and fact sheets posted on the Cyberbullying Research Center Web site, as well as through peer-reviewed journal articles and academic and professional conference presentations.

The Cyberbullying Research Center has been collecting data from middle and high school students since 2002, surveying more than 15,000 students across the U.S. in 11 unique projects.

Findings show that overall, about 26 percent of the students surveyed over the last nine studies have reported that they have been cyberbullied at some point in their lifetimes. About 9 percent said they were cyberbullied in the 30 days preceding the survey. Similarly, about 16 percent of those surveyed admitted that they had cyberbullied others at some point in their lifetimes (about 6 percent in the most recent 30 days).

Hinduja and Patchin also recently reviewed 73 published research articles available on the prevalence rates for cyberbullying. Fifty-one of those articles included cyberbullying victimization rates and 42 included cyberbullying offending rates. Rates across all of the studies ranged widely, from 2.3 percent to 72 percent for victimization and from 1.2 percent to 44.1 percent for offending.

“Taken as a whole, it seems safe to conclude that about one out of every four teens has experienced cyberbullying,” Hinduja said. “And about one out of every six teens has done it to others.”

This story originally appeared on India West.