来源：《新科学家》
原文刊登日期：2021年12月8日
Cyberbullying was already a problem before the covid-19 pandemic hit. In Australia, for example, one in five young people reported in 2017 that they had been socially excluded, threatened or abused online, and the same proportion said they had participated in cyberbullying themselves. Then lockdowns and work-from-home orders came into force, meaning even more time was spent online.
在新冠疫情爆发之前，网络欺凌已经是一个问题。例如，在澳大利亚，2017年有五分之一的年轻人报告称，他们曾在网上遭到社交排斥、威胁或辱骂，同样比例的人表示，他们自己参与了网络欺凌。随后，封锁和在家办公的命令开始生效，这意味着人们花在网上的时间更多了。
Yet when it comes to cyberbullying, the pandemic has had a different effect than you might expect. Although we have been online more, some studies show that cyberbullying has decreased. The reasons behind this could tell us how to better tackle this problem once we emerge from the pandemic.
然而，在网络欺凌方面，疫情的影响可能与你想象的不同。虽然我们上网的时间更长了，但一些研究表明，网络欺凌已经减少了。这背后的原因可以告诉我们，一旦我们摆脱新冠大流行，如何更好地解决网络欺凌问题。
Previously, more time online had been linked with an increased chance of participating in cyberbullying. Studies have also shown that stress and anxiety have increased during the pandemic, both of which can drive increases in anger and cyberbullying.
此前，上网时间越长，参与网络欺凌的几率就越大。研究还表明，在大流行期间，压力和焦虑有所增加，这两种情况都可能导致愤怒和网络欺凌的增加。
Yet this phenomenon has actually decreased during the pandemic. One study looked at school cyberbullying in the US using Google search data. Trends in the search term “cyberbullying” have previously matched up with actual survey data about it. This study found that searches for both “cyberbullying” and “bullying” dropped by 30 to 40 per cent relative to historical norms after US schools adopted remote learning.
然而，网络欺凌现象在新冠大流行期间实际上有所减少。一项研究使用谷歌搜索数据研究了美国的校园网络欺凌。疫情之前，搜索词“网络欺凌”的趋势与实际调查数据相吻合。这项研究发现，在美国学校采用远程学习后，“网络欺凌”和“欺凌”的搜索量都比历史常态下降了30%至40%。
Another study involving South Korean schoolchildren found that the proportion of school-aged children that were either cyberbullying or being cyberbullied decreased from 27 per cent in 2019 to 23 per cent in 2020.
另一项涉及韩国学龄儿童的研究发现，遭受网络欺凌或被网络欺凌的学龄儿童比例从2019年的27%下降到2020年的23%。
What’s going on? One reason for the decline is that in-person interactions can fuel both online and in-person bullying. Bullying tends to start in unstructured time, which doesn’t exist in the same way in online schooling. This suggests if we focus prevention efforts on unstructured time, it is likely we will stop both traditional bullying and cyberbullying.
发生了什么？这种下降的一个原因是，面对面的互动会加剧网络欺凌和面对面的欺凌。欺凌倾向于从自由时间开始，而自由时间在在线教育中是不存在的。这表明，如果我们把预防工作集中在自由时间上，我们可能会同时阻止传统欺凌和网络欺凌。
Bullying rates aren’t fixed. When children feel nurtured and socially and emotionally safe, they bully less. During the pandemic, young people have spent more time at home with their parent or carer. For some, this has probably provided feelings of safety.
霸凌率并不是固定不变的。当孩子感到得到了培养，在社交和情感上都很安全时，他们就会少欺负人。在大流行期间，年轻人花更多时间在家与父母或看护人在一起。对一些孩子来说，这可能提供了安全感。
Positive relationships also help reduce bullying. While some families have had interpersonal conflicts during the crisis, most households worldwide have reported increased cohesion and positive bonding between family members. Studies have shown that children reflected positively about spending more time with family. Keeping these positive relationships strong may also help prevent bullying in the future.
积极的家庭关系也有助于减少欺凌。虽然在疫情期间，一些家庭出现了人际冲突，但世界各地的大多数家庭报告说，家庭成员之间的凝聚力和积极联系有所增强。研究表明，孩子们对花更多时间与家人在一起持积极态度。保持这些积极的关系也有助于防止未来的欺凌。
The answer isn’t to get rid of unstructured time. But by making it a more nurturing environment backed up by positive relationships, the reduction in cyberbullying seen during the pandemic may stick around for some time.
答案并不是消灭自由时间。但是，在积极关系的支持下，通过给自由时间营造一个更有利于培养人的环境，大流行期间出现的网络欺凌的减少可能会持续一段时间。