Abstract

While reports of face-to-face bullying in schools have remained somewhat steady (and perhaps even declined) over time (Kennedy, 2019), rates of cyberbullying have increased dramatically in recent years (Zhu et al., 2021). Cyberbullying among teens is linked to a host of negative mental health outcomes including psychological distress, decreased life satisfaction, and suicidal ideation (Giumetti & Kowalski, 2022). Suicide rates of adolescents have indeed increased rapidly in recent decades (Zohuri & Zadeh, 2020). Alongside instances of cyberbullying, a proliferation of uncivil behavior (Frischlich, 2021), aggression, and hate speech (Tontodimamma et al., 2021) can also be seen across platforms in recent decades—leading many youth to feel unsafe online (Redmiles et al., 2019). In an effort to disrupt these trends, and foster a culture of kindness on the Internet, this project aims to create a curricular intervention for upper elementary school students which would provide students with the tools, training, and modeling students need to practice online kindness. In partnership with the UCLA Lab School, as well as The Changemaker Project, a local educational nonprofit, we plan to develop, test, iterate, and disseminate a curriculum for upper elementary school students to support them in practicing kindness online.

Field

Department of Education/UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, CREST UCLA (National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing), SMASH (Social Media and the Spread of Hate) at UCLA BKI/ISH

Extramural Partners

The Changemaker Project, Boys and Girls Club