Pesten is sowieso fout, maar terwijl ik zelf zou verwachten dat cyberpesten erger kan zijn omdat het letterlijk je slaapkamer kan binnenkomt, blijkt uit interviews met 156 Australische leerlingen dat ze net offline pesten erger vinden.

De reden? Bij cyberpesten kan je de afzender blocken of het bericht negeren, maar dit is niet het geval (of veel moeilijker) als de pester voor je staat.

Abstract van het onderzoek:

This article investigates the perceptions of 156 students who were victims of both traditional and cyberbullying (117 female, 45 male), ages 10 to 17 years, as to which form of bullying was more hurtful. Overall, students perceived traditional victimization to be more hurtful than cyber victimization. Reasons identified in the data to explain the different perceptions of victims were categorized and found to relate to: the bully, the bystanders, the bullying incidents, the emotional impact on the victim, and the victim’s ability to respond. The perceptions of these students challenge a number of suppositions presented in the literature that attempt to explain why cyberbullying is associated with more negative outcomes than traditional bullying. The implications for antibullying programs to address these issues are discussed.