Sep. 25- Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Ph. D, University of Kentucky

From Hurt to Hope: Can we build bully-free communities in Kentucky and beyond? 

Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Ph.D., University of Kentucky 

 Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES; 2022) indicate that bullying and cyberbullying victimization is commonplace for adolescents in the United States today, with approximately 20% experiencing bullying and over 50% cyberbullying during their lifetime. Today’s guest speaker, Professor Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Ph.D., from the University of Kentucky, will lecture on From Hurt to Hope: Can we build bully-free communities in Kentucky and beyond?  

An expert on adolescent development with a scholarly record of over 170 peer-reviewed publications, including extensive work on bullying, cyberbullying, and violent behaviors among children and adolescents, Dr. Vazsonyi will spend time (1) defining the problem based on national and international data, (2) discussing potential effective solutions, and (3) providing a brief case study of an effective bullying prevention program, KiVa. This and other bullying prevention programs provide rather straightforward approaches and mechanisms to intervene and bring about permanent changes at local schools, that address both bullying as well as cyber bullying behaviors among school-age youth. 

 ROTARY IN REVIEW – SEP. 25, 2025

BULLYING: WHO, WHY, WHERE, AND HOW TO ADDRESS

At our September 25 meeting, Dr. Alexander Vazsonyi treated us to the impact of bullying in our society, not only in Lexington but around the world. He demonstrated statistical evidence regarding both those being bullied but also those engaging in bullying. His primary focus was on cyberbullying. He explained that studies from over 1,000 youth, ages 9 – 16 from twenty-five European countries were utilized to build on prior research which has shown that traditional school bullying predicts cyberbullying. Individuals low in self-control seek immediate pleasure without much consideration of long-term consequences of their behaviors or actions. Victims of cyberbullying report significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than victims of traditional bullying.

Dr. Vazsonyi elaborated as follows: “Cyberbullying does not seem to be a behavior problem that is independent of traditional bullying in that offline victims are also at risk to the victims online. Our study adds to the existing literature on the importance of self-control by establishing its links with cyberbullying perpetration and victimization.”

Cyberbullying causes emotional damage and, due to ever-advancing communications technology, its now ubiquitous nature among youth, and the instantaneous nature of the messaging, its impact can be sudden and devastating to victims. On a positive note, it was noted that in the past several years many school systems both in the U.S. and globally have reduced/eliminated the use of cellular devices in the schools. Although the research is not voluminous, yet the results have been remarkable. The reduction of cyberbullying in those schools has been dramatic, but of course the effectiveness of this approach is limited to the hours that children are in school.

With regard to bullying generally, Dr. Vazsonyi sounded another positive note, referencing a seminal Finland study and the development of an anti-bullying program referred to as KiVa. KiVa was developed by the University of Turku, Finland, with funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture. It is evidence based and the data demonstrates the positive impact that it has had on reducing both the sheer number of incidents and in the self-improvement in positive attitudes of those being bullied. Elements of KiVa have been utilized in the US and elsewhere, again with positive results.

As a grandfather of two granddaughters ages 8 and 11 it was frightening for this writer to see the statistics that females in that age group are the ones with the highest frequency of being bullied. During the question and answer session following the talk, it was obvious this was a topic of interest given the quantity and quality of the questions that being asked. Truly this was a program that hit home with many of us. A special thanks to Jeff Thompson for suggesting and setting up this program.

– Jim Richardson