Children, social media and the trouble with defining bullying: pre-conference workshop

Online bullying is a hot topic for research as well as in wider society due to concern for its impact on children’s social and emotional wellbeing. Most research and interventions use a conventional definition of bullying, one that has been constructed by adults. Children’s perspectives on their own experiences have been marginalised in the process. Research and intervention tends to tell children what bullying is rather than listening to their perspectives and their methods for defining what is or is not bullying. In this presentation, I explore some problems associated with the conventional definition and its uses in research through examination of some historical context and blind spots, using lenses of gender, culture, and context, including the social media context. I will discuss the importance of positioning children’s accounts as sources of valid knowledge and of taking a child-centred approach to investigation of the troubles associated with online bullying and social media.