Workshop Session 2B: Illuminating The Dark Shadows of Cyberaggression

Cyber-aggression, (including the cyberbullying behaviors most prevalently perpetrated via social media platforms), has emerged as an increasingly nefarious threat. Although posited by experts to be a factor associated with the chronic rise in depression, anxiety, and self-harm among adolescents, adults are neither safe from, nor immune to, its potentially devastating impacts, either. Alarming statistics surrounding cyber-aggression are globally consistent and concerning, with marginalized and vulnerable populations considered to be most at risk. Educators, legislators, health agencies, clinicians, practitioners, parents, young adults, and even children believe cyber-aggression to pose a serious risk to adolescent mental health and safety. Due to the nascence of the behavior, an association has not yet been consensually proven, but as a topic of current robust inquiry and investigation it seems reasonable to imagine the relationship between them to be a pragmatic possibility. In this session, a globally recognized cyber-aggression expert will expose and explore this significantly dangerous digital phenomenon.
Attendees will be provided with evidence-based strategies and skills of how to identify, assess, approach, and reconcile cyber-aggressive events-including online bullying. Recommendations regarding how to incorporate and apply them in the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective cyber-aggression policies and practices, and promote protective factors to avoid future cyber-aggressive events-including in the workplace-will also be offered. A Q&A will be held at the end of the presentation.