Bullying in newsmagazines in Canada and the US: growing up is a risky and dangerous business

The incidence, as well as public and media focus on bullying and cyberbullying as social problems among children, has increased dramatically over the past several decades. Yet, the meanings, causes and consequences of bullying are all disputed. Thus, this paper reports on a qualitative content and discourse analysis of the portrayal of bullying in top circulating newsmagazines in Canada and the US from 2000 to 2014. It focuses on the answers to the following four the questions of what is bullying? What are its consequences? What is said to cause it? What can be done about it? It then offers possible theoretical explanations for the findings through the theories of medicalization, neoliberalism and risk society.