Family dinners important in more ways than one. Photo: Getty
The threat of cyberbullying is a very twenty-first century problem. Unlike ‘traditional’ playground bullying, cyberbullying is a relatively new phenomenon, and one that few parents have had personal experience of. It is therefore a threat that parents feel they have little control over.
It is thought that as many as one in five teenagers have experienced online abuse or cyberbullying. The effects are alarming; researchers say that cyberbullying can increase the risk of mental health problems as well as the misuse of drugs and alcohol.
But a new study suggests that simple everyday routines can play a big role in protecting teenagers from the dangers of the online world. Researchers from McGill University, Montreal, Canada found that family dinners in particular are a good way to support teenagers.
The researchers surveyed 18,834 students and measured internalising problems, such as anxiety and depression, externalising problems such as fighting and vandalism and substance use problems such as frequent alcohol use and prescription drug misuse.
19% of the surveyed participants had experienced some form of cyberbullying during the last twelve months. When examining those who had been impacted by it, the researchers found a strong link between cyberbullying and all three of the measures; internalising, externalising and substance abuse measurers.
However, researchers also found that family dinners appeared to moderate the effects of cyberbullying and mental health difficulties as Dr Frank Elgar, author of the study explains: “With four or more family dinners per week there was about a four-fold difference in the rates of total problems between no cyberbullying victimisation and frequent victimisation. When there were no dinners the difference was more than seven-fold.”
While Dr Elgar warns that parents shouldn’t over simplify the finding and that family dinners alone are not enough to prevent cyberbullying, it is good news for parents that want to find ways to reach out to their teens.
So what is it about family dinners that make them such a powerful tool in the fight against cyberbullying? Family councillor and cyber-safety expert Martine Oglethorpe says that family dinners along with other family rituals can help teenagers become more resilient.
“Family dinners provide an important bonding time for families but also an environment where family members can safely talk and connect with each other.
“Most importantly they provide that ritualistic experience where the environment is safe, they know what to expect and they usually have unconditional support. This reliability can be a real comfort to those experiencing challenges outside he family home,” she explains.
– Catherine Rodie
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