It makes sense that girls would be more affected by cyberbullying than boys (not that it doesn't happen to both genders). Cyberbullying is primarily relational bullying -- it takes place online, which for today's teens, is the most social of social spaces. Instead of rumor being whispered in the hallway at school, it now is copied, pasted and forwarded. Boys tend to deal with their issues more directly and sometimes through physical fighting.

The Pew Internet & Amercan Life Project just released their latest research on cyberbullying. In one section, the report asks whether social networks facilitate cyberbullying because teens on these sites say they are cyberbullied more than teens who do not use social networking sites. I just think teens' real world social lives have gone virtual on sites like MySpace or Facebook -- where there are friends, there will be drama.

The Pew Report is not so different than the Harris study I blogged about awhile back in that it acknowledges cyberbullying is a real problem, but that teens are not viewing it as being as much of a problem as offline harassment. This is because in most cases where someone is being harassed online, teens can ignore, block or report the person on the other end of the instant message or MySpace account.

What's most interesting to me in this report is the reality that once you make something digital it's very hard to prevent it from being copied, forwarded or misused in some way if someone has it out for you, and that most teens are still shocked that certain photos or communications that were meant to be private turn up in incidents of harassment or bullying. According to the report, "one in 6 teens (15%) told us someone had forwarded or posted communication they assumed was private."

Pew also found that older teen girls (15-17) are more likely to report cyberbullying. So while I would guess it's probably happening at a higher rate with tween girls, they're just not reporting it. This makes sense since younger girls are still figuring out their place in the social hierarchy and may be afraid that reporting it will make life even worse for them. It's also probably happening to them more on instant messenger than social networking sites.

Most telling were the quotes from middle school girls talking about bullying -- just as the rumor changes with each retelling, words that are typed can be easily altered or manipulated:

"Just copy and paste whatever somebody says," a middle school girl explains as she describes online bullying tactics. "You have to watch what you say..." counsels another middle school girl. "If that person's at their house and if you say something about them and you don't know they're there or if you think that person's your friend and you trust them and you're like, 'Oh, well, she's really being annoying,' she could copy and paste and send it to [anyone]..." Another middle school girl describes how the manipulation of digital materials can be used to hurt someone. "Like I was in a fight with a girl and she printed out our conversation, changed some things that I said, and brought it into school, so I looked like a terrible person."

Here are some great resources you can use to learn about and prevent relational bullying among girls:

Girls Bullying Girls (from the National Association of School Psychologists)
Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence
Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection among Girls
Hardy Girls Healthy Women
Respect Rx