We would like to acknowledge Bell Canada for providing support for this research. AbstractThe use of online technology is exploding worldwide and is fast becoming a preferred method of interacting. While most online interactions are neutral or positive the Internet provides a new means through which children and youth are bullied. The aim of this grounded theory approach was to explore technology, virtual relationships and cyber bullying from the perspectives of students. Seven focus groups were held with 38 students between fifth and eighth grades. The participants considered cyber bullying to be a serious problem and some characterized online bullying as more serious than ‗traditional' bullying because of the associated anonymity. Although the students depicted anonymity as integral to cyber bullying, the findings suggest that much of the cyber bullying occurred within the context of their social groups and relationships. Findings revealed five major themes: technology embraced at younger ages and becoming the dominant medium for communication; definitions and views of cyber bullying; factors unique to cyber bullying; types of cyber bullying; and telling adults. The findings highlight the complexity of the perceived anonymity provided by the Internet and how A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 3 this may impact cyber bullying. The study offers greater awareness of the meanings of online relationships for children and youth. Although traditional bullying has long been considered a school-based problem (Craig & Pepler, 2008), electronic communication tools are moving the discussion of bullying into the realm of the electronic information highway. Similar to traditional bullying, cyber bullying, also known as electronic bullying or online social cruelty (Kowalski et al., 2008), includes -willful and repeated harm inflicted‖ (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009, p. 5) towards another. What makes forms of technology for entertainment, information, personal help and advice, and importantly for social connection and interactions. It is essential that adults acknowledge, understand and accept the Internet and communication technology as a viable and real means of relating for children and youth in order to provide needed guidance and protection, and to keep children safe. Highlights-We compare cyber bullying: victims, bullies, bully-victims, no involvement -We explore the factors that contribute to involvement in cyber bullying.-One quarter reported involvement as both bully and victim in previous three months.-In traditional bullying bully-victims represent smallest most vulnerable group -In the current study the bully-victims category emerged as more common.

An ecological perspective was used to predict school violence from a number of variables describing the students and their families based on nationally representative sample of 10,400 students in grades 7-11 in 162 schools across Israel. Self-administered anonymous questionnaires that included a scale for reporting victimization by serious and moderate physical violence, threats, and verbal-social victimization were filled out during class. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) examined the relationships between students' reports of victimization and student level variables (gender, age) and the school-level variables--cultural affiliation (Jewish vs. Arab), the socio-economic status (SES) of the school's neighborhood and students' families, school and class size, school level (junior high vs. high), and school climate. Variance between schools accounted for 9-15% of the variance in student victimization (major factors being school climate characteristics and percent of boys at the school). Boys reported higher victimization than girls for all forms of school violence. Students in junior high schools reported more victimization than high school students. Higher levels of victimization were reported in overcrowded classes, while school size was not associated with students' reports of victimization. Although there were almost no differences between Jewish and Arab schools in students' reports of victimization, the SES of the school's neighborhood and students did have a moderate effect. The discussion highlights the importance of improving school climate and the need to allocate more resources to schools in low SES contexts in order to protect students from school violence.

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This study tested the hypothesis that values, abstract goals serving as guiding life principles, become relatively important predictors of adolescents' self-reported violent behavior in school environments in which violence is relatively common. The study employed a students-nested-in-schools design. Arab and Jewish adolescents (N = 907, M age = 16.8), attending 33 Israeli schools, reported their values and their own violent behavior. Power values correlated positively, and universalism and conformity correlated negatively with self-reported violent behavior, accounting for 12% of the variance in violent behavior, whereas school membership accounted for 6% of the variance. In schools in which violence was more common, power values' relationship with adolescents' self-reported violence was especially positive, and the relationship of universalism with self-reported violence was especially negative.

The current study presents the prevalence of students' reports of perpetration of violence toward peers and teachers among 16,604 7th- through 11th-grade Jewish and Arab students in Israel and examines the individual and school contextual factors that explain students' violence. The study explores how students' reports of violence are influenced by individual factors (gender, age, perception of school climate and intervention) and school contextual factors (cultural affiliation, SES of students' families, school and class size, school climate, intervention). Almost one third of all students reported at least one form of perpetration toward peers, and one in five reported perpetration against teachers. Compared to the school climate characteristics, school organizational factors, and cultural affiliation, students' SES has the highest contribution to explained variance in reports of violence toward others. The discussion highlights the need to allocate more resources to schools in low-SES contexts to protect low-SES students from school violence.