Survey shows that three-quarters of U.S. teachers have not addressed cyberbullying

By Staff Writer

A new survey reveals that only about one in four K-12 teachers in the U.S. have taught their students how to handle incidents of cyberbullying within the last 12 months.

The results are part of a survey conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Microsoft Corporation, which questioned more than 1,000 teachers and more than 400 administrators about their schools cyberbullying prevention strategies. Only 15 percent of teachers reported that they addressed the dangers of online "hate speech" in class over the past year.

Despite the low number of educators who integrated cyberullying into their lesson plans, nearly 60 percent of teachers said that they are prepared to share guidance about the topic. A total of 68 percent of administrators claimed that they were equipped to address the issue.

Michael Kaiser, the executive director of the NCSA, said that schools should make more of an effort to warn their students about the potential harms of certain online behavior. Considering the recent slew of media reports of teen suicide resulting from cyberbullying, Kaiser urged education officials to address this problem as soon as possible.

Students who are bullied and have thoughts of self-harm may benefit from wilderness therapy programs, which aim to help troubled teens overcome their hardships.