Bullying keynotes that build the strengths which prevent it
Dr. Sameer Hinduja works with schools and other youth-serving organizations to prevent bullying and cyberbullying by cultivating strengths-based assets such as hope, empathy, and resilience in young people against the backdrop of an intentionally-built positive school climate.
The research behind the talk
Bullying and cyberbullying are now the same problem wearing two faces. What happens in the hallway continues on the phone, and a prevention effort that treats them separately misses how young people actually experience harm.
Dr. Sameer Hinduja co-founded the Cyberbullying Research Center in 2005 and has gathered data from roughly 40,000 young people. His work spans the prevalence and consequences of bullying, sexting, and digital dating abuse, the legal precedent that guides when schools can intervene, and the protective power of empathy, resilience, hope, and positive school climate. The talk turns that research into a practical plan that families and schools can put to work.
Because bullying so often plays out on social media, the talk includes how schools and families can work with technology platforms, what to report, how reporting and safety tools actually function, and where their limits are.
Most requested presentation
Establishing Trust, Grit, and Empathy to Decrease Bullying and Cyberbullying
The session shares evolving best practices that schools, families, and youth-serving adults can implement proactively, rather than reactively after an incident. It grounds the audience in current research on offline and online problem behaviors, then moves to strategies drawn from adolescent development: identification, prevention, and response, with an emphasis on partnering with young people to grow their self-awareness, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.
Audiences leave able to:
- Understand the scope and prevalence of bullying, cyberbullying, sexting, and digital dating abuse.
- Inquire about and respond to a young person's experience as target, aggressor, or bystander.
- Cultivate resilience and empathy deliberately, with specific, research-based methods.
- Structure formal policy and know the legal precedent for when to intervene.
- Marshal peer influence and school climate, social norming, peer mentoring, and grassroots campaigns.
- Work effectively with parents, law enforcement, and social media companies.
Who this is for
Each presentation is tailored to the audience and the concerns of the specific community, and is available in person or online.
What hosts say
"Dr. Sameer Hinduja was the perfect keynote speaker for our International Anti-Bullying Summit. His sessions encompassed solid research, intervention, school climate improvement, and character building. He was highly knowledgeable as well as warm and accessible."
Linda Dean, Truman Pierce Institute, College of Education, Auburn University
"In my thirty-six years as an educator, one of my most extraordinary professional experiences has been having Sameer come to our district. The information is very practical and the strategies he shares are relevant and easily implemented."
Geraldine Johnson, Bullying Prevention Coordinator, Cumberland Valley School District, PA
"Dr. Hinduja is a highly skilled and extremely knowledgeable presenter who actively engages his audience while sharing his expertise. The presentations went above and beyond our expectations."
Colleen O'Brien, Conference Co-Chair, Bullying Prevention and Intervention Conference, Worcester, MA
"Of the hundreds of professional presentations I have heard in my 37 year career, yours was clearly in the top 5%. You responded to questions very sensitively and reflected obviously extensive knowledge of the subject."
C. Drew Edwards, Ph.D., ABPP, Clinical Child Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor, Wake Forest University
"Dr. Hinduja provided an enlightening and engaging keynote address. He is extremely knowledgeable, engages his audience, and uses humor to deliver his message on this very serious topic. I highly recommend him."
Charles J. Buckler, Director, Student Services, Maryland State Department of Education
"I can honestly say that you have few equals. I loved your energy and enthusiasm, your potent content, your delivery, and the way you keep everyone engaged. Masterful."
William Regan, Director of University Events, University at Buffalo, New York
Common questions
What does Dr. Hinduja's bullying keynote cover?
It covers the prevalence and consequences of bullying and cyberbullying, how to respond to targets, aggressors, and bystanders, the legal precedent for school intervention, and how to build a positive school climate. A central theme is cultivating empathy, resilience, and trust as protective strengths.
Does the talk address bullying as well as cyberbullying?
Yes. It treats them as one connected problem, since offline and online harm are now deeply intertwined, and gives strategies that work across both.
Who is the presentation for?
Conferences, schools and districts, independent and faith-based schools, nonprofits, government agencies, health professionals, parents, and students, with versions tailored to each audience.
What makes his approach different?
He pairs two decades of original research with a calm, practical, non-alarmist style, and centers prevention on building character and school climate rather than punishment alone.
Background
per Stanford University
Dr. Hinduja is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University and a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He co-founded the Cyberbullying Research Center, has published eight books, and is Co-Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Bullying Prevention. He has testified before the U.S. Attorney General and federal departments and advised the White House across two administrations on youth safety. You can read his full biography at hinduja.org.