Data and Code for: The COVID-19 Pandemic Disrupted Both School Bullying and Cyberbullying

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Boston University; Joshua Goodman, Boston University; Jennifer Greif Green, Boston University; Melissa K. Holt, Boston University

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
f_eventusa.pdf	application/pdf	64.9 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
f_full_trends.pdf	application/pdf	96 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
f_seasonality_july.pdf	application/pdf	61.1 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
f_state_burbio_sch_cy.pdf	application/pdf	69.2 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
f_state_burbio_sch_cy_appendix.pdf	application/pdf	62.5 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
f_state_yrbs_google.pdf	application/pdf	57.6 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
f_state_yrbs_google_appendix.pdf	application/pdf	63.2 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
t_closures.tex	application/x-tex	3.4 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
t_correlation.tex	application/x-tex	2 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM
t_post_reg.tex	application/x-tex	3.3 KB	12/10/2021 05:43:AM

Project Description

Summary: One-fifth of U.S. high school students report being bullied each year. We use internet search data for real-time tracking of bullying patterns as COVID-19 disrupted in-person schooling. We first show that, pre-pandemic, internet searches contain useful information about actual bullying behavior. We then show that searches for school bullying and cyberbullying dropped 30-35 percent as schools shifted to remote learning in spring 2020. The gradual return to in-person instruction starting in fall 2020 partially returns bullying searches to pre-pandemic levels. This rare positive effect may partly explain recent mixed evidence on the pandemic's impact on students' mental health and well-being.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Covid-19; Pandemic; School Bullying; Cyberbullying; Google Trends

JEL Classification:
      I20 Education and Research Institutions: General
      I28 Education: Government Policy
      I31 General Welfare; Well-Being

Geographic Coverage: United States

Universe: All Google users in the United States.

Data Type(s): aggregate data; other; survey data

Methodology

Data Source: Google Trends, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Burbio School Opening Tracker.

Unit(s) of Observation: U.S. States by Month

Geographic Unit: U.S. States

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-08-31]

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