Dr. Robert Faris: The Bullying network is even more so. So even after you account for the separation between kids of different races, they're still less likely to have an aggression tie that crosses a racial line. So in other words you know two kids who are the same distance apart in The Social Network, the pair that is of different races is going to be much less likely to have a bullying time between them. That's kind of an unexpected thing. Dr. Allison Mathews: Can you explain what a bullying tie means? So you're saying... Dr. Robert Faris: Okay yeah. So that means there's a black kid and a white kid. They are much less likely than two white kids or two black kids to be bullying each other, and that's true even after you... part of the explanation for that is that there is some social segregation and they're not interacting as often but even after you account for that, they still are much less likely to bully each other. That's kind of a surprising finding that we're trying to figure out what what's going on there. Dr. Allison Mathews: Yeah I would be curious if it had to do with some fear. Right? Like that at least for Black kids, that they wouldn't mess with White kids because they know the consequences were much higher for them if they were to bully a white kid. Dr. Robert Faris: It's interesting. Yeah I mean, I think there is sort of a reluctance and maybe there's some caution around this, you know, it potentially becoming a collective conflict spiraling in some sense. There is no significant difference...you know B lack students are slightly more likely to to bully white students than vice versa on average, but the difference is not significant. So it's very rare. It's surprisingly rare. I'm not sure. Dr. Allison Mathews: Is the social status for black kids tied to any relationship with white kids like that's... Dr. Robert Faris: So yeah exactly. Yeah that's one of the other um considerations that we're exploring is that you wouldn't be more popular. It's not a... yeah exactly... it's not... it will not produce any benefits social benefits. Yeah.

Contexts UNC Study findings on adolescent experiences with bullying in Person County, Moore County and Vance County in North Carolina. These findings informed the current NC Life Study, which is currently enrolling participants! $50 gift card for eligible participants who complete the survey.

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