Examining Gender Differences in a Social Norms Prevention Program for Cyberbullying

Research on cyberbullying is not new but questions remain as to whether the available bullying prevention programs can adequately prevent this behavior alongside more traditional bullying victimization. We examine whether a social norms bullying prevention program reduces self-reported cyberbullying and cybervictimization experiences and perceptions of peers’ same experiences, with an emphasis on gender differences in outcomes. We find modest increases in self-reported cyberbullying and victimization experiences. In addition, participants in schools where programs were implemented reported an increase in perceptions of peer experiences, with girls reporting higher perceptions of peer experiences with cyberbullying and victimization than boys. We discuss this in light of how programs may create backfire effects but future prevention attempts can leverage some of these findings to create more gendered responsive programming.