Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Safe and supportive learning environments are associated with positive experiences for children at school, including reduced experiences with traditional victimization. However, the impact and development of cyber victimization within the school context is not clear. In the current study, we examine the bidirectional associations between cyber victimization and school climate in elementary school when adolescents are beginning to gain independent access to technology and cyber victimization is emerging. Participants included 714 5th and 6th grade students who were surveyed at the beginning and end of one academic year. Results indicate that student's experiences of school climate predicted cyber victimization. However, cyber victimization did not predict student's experiences of school climate. Efforts to ensure that all children's experiences at school are favourable are fundamental to preventing and reducing cyber victimization. Helping young children to understand and seek help for cyber victimization at a time when cyber technology is becoming accessible may have long-term effects on their use of these negative behaviours and subsequent negative health outcomes.