Pew Report on Cyberbullying and Online Teens

The Pew Internet & American Life Project: has just released a new
short report that looks at "online harassment and cyberbullying among online teens ages 12-17." Here's the summary:

The report finds that about one third (32%) of all teenagers who use the internet say they have been targets of a range of annoying and potentially menacing online activities - such as receiving threatening messages; having their private emails or text messages forwarded without consent; having an embarrassing picture posted without permission; or having rumors about them spread online.

Interestingly, in the report the "blurb" just under the title says "One in three online teens have experienced online harassment / Girls are more likely to be victims / But most teens say that they are more likely to be bullied offline than online" (my emphasis -- I wonder how much more common real world bullying is?).

Interesting. This is a snapshot of youth culture in transition and I'd put money on the issues of on-line bullying becoming a big issue in the next couple of years with the wholly predictable lawsuits and mainstream press making it AN ISSUE.

I wonder whether anyone will provide a comparative analysis of on-line and off-line bullying so we can get some perspective on the matter or will the short attention span and surface response of pop culture do its usual "the sky is falling" act and leave Joe Public none the wiser but a lot more worried over what may actually not be important or, as is more likely, important in a way that isn't understood in context and dealt with in an appropriate manner?