Strategies to cope with cyberbullying among public and private middle school students

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to compare responses of students from a public and a private high school regarding how they would face cyberbullying situations, both as victims and as witnesses, in order to understand how adolescents respond to such experiences and provide input for future intervention programs that strengthen their ability to deal effectively with cyberbullying. 251 students aged 12 to 15 from public and private secondary schools in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Mexico participated in 2019 and 2020 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. They answered the Inventory of Strategies for Coping with Cyberbullying from the Victim's Perspective (IEAC-V) and the Inventory of Coping Strategies for Cyberbullying from the Perspective of the Observer (IEAC-O). From the victim’s perspective, the public school students had high scores in aggressive strategies as well as in ignoring and diverting concern; the private school students scored higher in seeking support, gathering evidence, and avoiding the bully. From the observer’s perspective, the public school students scored higher in the strategy of ignoring and diverting concern and in aggressive strategies, while the private school students had high scores in the strategy of gathering evidence and seeking support. These results are discussed taking into account the literature on cyberbullying in adolescents.