'Did the pandemic make us mean?': Ontario researcher looks at rise of cyberbullying

Is more screen time making children meaner? A new study from a Canadian researcher has found that increased screen time during the pandemic has sparked a decline in empathy.

An Ontario-based researcher presented new data that shows cyberbullying is on the rise since the end of the pandemic.

CTV News Toronto spoke with Kaitlynn Mendes, an associate professor at Western University and the lead researcher on the study, who surveyed 800 young people, parents and teachers in the U.K. as the pandemic restrictions were lifting.

"We were asking young people about their experiences about various online harms before and after the pandemic," said Mendes. "Young people told us that they experienced increased harms, things like harassment, sexual harassment, racism, homophobia, bullying, body shaming, so across all of these different kinds of harms and people were definitely telling us that these had increased since the pandemic."

During the pandemic, many students around the world were not in classroom settings, but rather were attending school from home and following strict guidelines about gathering in groups.

"I think it changed their communication patterns," said Mendes. "Empathy decreases when you have less opportunity to say, look someone in the eye, to hear the way and tone in people's voices, to hear the response in someone's face."

Mendes explained that by primarily interacting online it is easier to say something hurtful because you don't see the response in someone's face.

"I think it was a combination of decreased potential for empathy and more time spent online," she said.

Mendes shared the study at the Ontario Medical Association's monthly media briefing, titled 'Did the pandemic make us mean?’

President of the OMA, Dr. Rose Zacharias said, "three years into the pandemic we have had a serious impact on our mental health as a population in Ontario."

She explained how physicians are burning out at an alarming rate, up from 66 percent pre-pandemic to 75 percent now.

"We also see an increase in substance use as a coping mechanism, and we know that this is having a negative impact on our physical well being," said Zacharias. "We need more community-based team approaches to complex needs of our mental health and addiction issues and we are committed to work with government to see our solutions through."

In discussing Mendes' study, Zacharias said a study like this needs to lead to more school-based mental health supports.

"More team-based community mental health supports, because I think we're still struggling as a result of coming through the pandemic," she told CTV News Toronto in an interview. "It so speaks to the needs of better mental health supports, perhaps legislation around ability even to impact the curriculum with developing empathy inside our young people."

Mendes said all is not lost, rather she believes empathy is a learned skill.

"It can be taught but it takes practice," she said. "So it means that, for example, parents instead of just giving your child a tablet or phone, I think that there's a lot of work that needs to be done to prepare them on how to behave on these online platforms."

Which, she added, also means parents need to familiarize themselves with the various social media platforms to have an understanding of what sites children are visiting.

While this study was based in the U.K., Mendes said she is going to be conducting a similar study right across Canada in the coming months.