Parenting Can Contribute to Stop Cyber Bullying

Two researchers, Carter Hay and Ryan Meldrum from the college of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University analyzed survey answers from 426 adolescents with an average age of fifteen. They asked them how often they thought about suicide or self-harm, how often they felt bullied, and questions about their own and their parents' behaviors. The purpose of this survey was to investigate the idea that it may not be just bullying that harms its victims but rather the way in which being bullied interacts with individuals handling skills and the sort of social support they have at home. Hay and Meldrum say that the findings indicate that a high level of self-control and a certain style of parenting, known as authoritative parenting, may reduce the dangerous effects of bullying. Authoritative parenting includes good listeners and that are able to provide comfort and guidance when their child encounters stress, as well as help them make appropriate responses. This kind of parenting has been associated with good psychological outcomes.

This article relates to the psychological part of science. It discusses how parenting can psychologically impact their adolescent kids. It shows how the mind of teenagers can be control by the relationship they have with their parents. The article relates to science because it shows how relationships at home affect decisions made by teens. This shows another way to control teenagers' minds and getting them to do things, in this case it benefits them.

This article is important because the whole idea of the research came from the death of Phoebe Prince, the 14 year-old girl who committed suicide after a long time of being bullied. The article helps to inform parents of other ways to prevent bullying from happening or at least from being the cause of so many deaths. With this article people can be taught new ways to protect children and stop bullying from ruining so many lives. Bullying is a huge problem in schools everywhere around the world and now it's easier for the bullies to attack their victims with the internet. Therefore, it is more important to try anything in order to stop bullying especially cyber bullying.



http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=best-defenses-cyber-bullies