When it comes to teen suicides, cyberbullying is rarely the sole
leading mechanism of peer torment, states a small study
presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics’ national
conference in New Orleans last weekend. According to the
research, teens who commit suicide are usually depressed and
experience bullying both at school and online. “Cyberbullying is
a factor in some suicides, but almost always there are other
factors such as mental illness or face-to-face bullying,” said
in a statement study author John C. LeBlanc, MD, MSc, FRCPC,
FAAP. “Cyberbullying usually occurs in the context of regular
bullying.” Teen suicide and cyberbullying For the research,
LeBlanc and his team looked at teen suicide reports, pulling
data from online sources where cyberbullying was indicated as a
factor in a teen’s death. The team then compiled the information
to determine demographic details, history of mental illness, co-
occurrence of other forms of bullying, and which electronic
media was indicated in each suicide event