On and off line hate speech and academic performance in secondary education in Cameroon

Abstract

Despite the increasing scientific attention given to hate speech, there is a lack of empirical studies examining the effect of hate speech among secondary school students and its association with academic achievement. The objective of this research is to assess the associations between online and offline hate speech based on gender, religion, ethnic affiliation, and academic achievement. The results suggest that hate speech is not spread evenly across the distribution of students, but rather is concentrated primarily among students with lower academic performance, both online and offline. More specifically, hate speech based on gender and ethnicity was found to have significant and negative associations with educational outcomes when it occurred online. In contrast, hate speech based on religion also had a significant and negative associations with educational outcomes when it occurred offline. It is worth noting that a student's ability to connect to the internet from his or her own phone is positively associated with better school results, while presence on social networks is negatively associated with these results. These results may be helpful considering policies to improve healthy school environments in the future.