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• A study conducted with 2,859 students from elementary and secondary schools in Luxembourg tested whether banning mobile phones from schools is efficient in reducing cyberbullying.
• Using a pre-post design, the incidence rate of cyberbullying was measured before and after mobile phones were banned comparing a group of students not allowed using mobile phones with a group that was allowed to bring their mobile phones to school.
• Cyberbullying did not decline after the intervention. On the contrary, the number of occurrences even slightly increased both with regard to comparing the two student groups and the two points of measurement.
• It is concluded that, at least as a short-term measure, banning mobile phones is not an efficient measure to fight cyberbullying in schools.
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Relevant publications |
Steffgen, G., König, A., Pfetsch, J., & Ewen, N. (2010). Interdire pour prévenir? Les effets de l’interdiction d’utiliser le téléphone mobile à l’école pour lutter contre le cyber-bullying. Une expérience au Luxembourg. La Revue Française d’Education Comparée, 6,185-206. / Steffgen, G., König, A., & Pfetsch, J (2009). Cyberbullying – zur Wirkung spezifischer Interventionsmaßnahmen. Befunde einer wissenschaftlichen Begleitstudie (Research report). Luxembourg: University of Luxembourg, INSIDE / AASC. / Steffgen, G., König, A., & Pfetsch, J. (2009, August). Does banning cell phones in schools reduce cyberbullying? Paper presented at the XIVth European Conference on Developmental Psychology: Post-Conference Workshop: Cyberbullying: Definition and Measurement, Vilnius, Lithuania.
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Contact details of investigator |
Georges Steffgen, University of Luxembourg, georges.steffgen@uni.lu
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