The COVID-19 Pandemic Disrupted Both School Bullying and Cyberbullying
- (pp. 353-70)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
One-fifth of US high school students report being bullied each year. We use internet search data for real-time tracking of bullying patterns as COVID-19 disrupted in-person schooling. We first show that pre-pandemic internet searches contain useful information about actual bullying behavior. We then show that searches for school bullying and cyberbullying dropped 30–35 percent as schools shifted to remote learning in spring 2020. The gradual return to in-person instruction starting in fall 2020 partially returned bullying searches to pre-pandemic levels. This rare positive effect may partly explain recent mixed evidence on the pandemic's impact on students' mental health and well-being.Citation
Bacher-Hicks, Andrew, Joshua Goodman, Jennifer Greif Green, and Melissa K. Holt. 2022. "The COVID-19 Pandemic Disrupted Both School Bullying and Cyberbullying." American Economic Review: Insights, 4 (3): 353-70. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20210456Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- I12 Health Behavior
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- I31 General Welfare; Well-Being