Thomson Reuters survey: Parents turn to law enforcement first when children face cyberbullying
There’s little doubt that cyberbullying is a rising problem in the U.S., but where do parents turn when their children encounter cyberbullies?
A survey of 642 American parents has found 36 percent of parents would turn to law enforcement to address the issue. The survey was conducted by the Fraud Prevention and Investigations (FP&I) business of Thomson Reuters.
While half the parents said they were very or somewhat concerned about cyberbullying, the majority of parents surveyed said they don’t know if their children’s school has a policy on cyberbullying.
When asked whom they would turn to first if their child experienced cyberbullying, law enforcement and schools were the clear top choices:
- Law enforcement: 36%
- School: 29%
- Relatives: 9%
- Friends: 8%
- Church/Clergy: 2%
- Others: 2%
- No one: 2%
- Not sure: 12%
A second separate survey of law enforcement professionals conducted by FP&I in conjunction with PoliceOne.com revealed that half of law enforcement agencies report the time spent investigating cyberbullying, bullying and school violence has increased over the past two years. Yet, most law enforcement agencies feel ill-equipped to effectively investigate these cases, with 76 percent reporting that current cyberbullying training is insufficient.
Of law enforcement professionals surveyed, 68 percent work to foster relationships with school officials and/or principals to prevent or deter cyberbullying, bullying and school violence.
Click the below infographic to see the full results of the law enforcement survey.
