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by Annis Lai Chu Fung (Editor)
The shift to face-to-face communication since the start of the global pandemic has resulted in more conflicts among children and adolescents on social media, and aggressive and bullying behaviour becoming more severe on online platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Signal.
Author Biography
Annis Lai Chu FUNG, Ph.D., is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Her research and teaching areas are children and youth in school bullying, aggressive behaviour, peer victimisation, and innovative counselling interventions. She established the Children and Adolescents at Risk Education Laboratory (C.A.R.E. Lab.), which focuses on developing and scientifically evaluating various original interventions to reduce face-to-face aggression and bullying. Approaches such as the cognitive-behavioural approach, the physio-moral approach (e.g., Chinese martial arts and ethics), the neurobiological approach (e.g., Omega-3 supplementation), the social information-processing approach (e.g., storytelling), and the social learning approach (e.g., parenting efficacy) have been adopted to tackle these issues. Over 150 elementary and middle schools have been involved. In responding to social changes and needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Annis established a new development of Cyber-Joy Enjoy Laboratory under C.A.R.E. Lab. in 2020. Cyberbullying has been a significant concern as students mostly rely on social networks to stay connected to friends and communities; hence, she developed evidence-based intervention based on emotion-focused therapy on cyberbullying and online victimisation for young people.
