Who Benefits from Bullying Prevention? How Policy Shapes the Stratification of Youth Conflict

• In Event: Unapologetically Centering Youth in Theory, Practice, and Praxis

Abstract

This paper explores the uneven outcomes of the anti-bullying industry. Drawing from 127 interviews, digital ethnography of 75 teens’ social media accounts, and two school years of fieldwork at a rural high school, I illustrate how intersectional forms of disadvantage and privilege shape who is most likely to need versus benefit from anti-bullying policies. I find that nondominant students experienced the highest bullying rates, but were the least likely to name their experiences as “bullying” or report them. Meanwhile, it was white, class-privileged, heterosexual students who most frequently filed bullying reports. Here, I explicate the puzzle of how anti-bullying policies which should–at least in theory–protect marginalized students come to largely benefit privileged teens, and their implications on inequality in schools.

Author

• Sarah Miller, Boston University