Socioeconomics, demographics, and cyberbullying: A quantitative study

ecause of the advancements in technology and the breadth of reach for the Internet, cyberbullying has become a problem for children in classrooms and at home (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010). This study addresses a gap in literature concerning the influences of demographic conditions and cyberbullying participation. This study examined the secondary data collected in 2014 through the Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project (2014a), an organization that focuses on the social influence of the Internet in its Internet Life Reports. The secondary data contained socioeconomic and demographic information, specifically family income, geographic region, adolescent gender, and adolescent age. The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study was to examine the relationships between socioeconomic and demographic conditions influencing cyberbullying participation. The study used ANOVAs to explore relationships between an adolescent's cyberbullying experience and their age, family income, gender, and geographic region. The results of the ANOVA were significant for all of the variables. Cyberbullying participation was found to be higher among adolescents 14--17 years old. Adolescent males were found to commit cyberbullying more than adolescent females. Urban settings were more significant than rural communities for propensity to cyberbully, and suburban settings were not significant. Adolescents in families with income less than...