Axios PM

July 26, 2019
Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 513 words, a 2 minute read.
Heads-up: Every quarter Axios journalists highlight the trends they are watching in politics, energy, science, technology, business and more. As a subscriber to this newsletter, you'll see that in your inbox tomorrow, from me.
1 big thing: Online bullying on rise among girls

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Girls are facing the brunt of a rise in online bullying:
- "21% of girls in middle and high school reported being bullied online or by text message in the 2016-17 school year, compared with less than 7% of boys," the AP notes, citing Department of Education data.
- Two years earlier, "16% of girls between 12 and 18 said they were bullied online, compared with 6% of boys."
Why it matters: Well-meaning parents and educators are left to effectively play whack-a-mole.
- In states like Texas and California, broad cyberbullying laws have been passed — and schools are increasingly adding strict cyberbullying rules.
The big picture: A generation of kids is growing up not knowing life without the social pressure and power that comes with online social networks, notes Axios' Stef Kight.
- Social media has enabled youth activism in this generation, but has also been linked to bullying, mental health issues and rising suicide rates among young people.
Between the lines: These online platforms make it easier than ever to bully each other and it also allows you to do it anonymously so you can be mean and hurt people without the "uncool" look of being a bully, Axios' Juliet Bartz tells me.
- Kind Campaign founder Lauren Paul told the AP 90% of the stories she hears while working in schools are of girls bullied by other girls.
- One girl even created fake profiles to like her social posts, fearing that her friends would exclude her otherwise.
The bottom line: The pressures long faced by teen girls — from the clothes you wear at school to who you hang with— are now on a bigger stage, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva told me.
- It's also your Instagram photos and whether your Snapchats and photos are popular.
Go deeper: Devices dominate teenagers' social lives
Bonus: Pic du jour

A cat disrupts play in the second half between Tigres UANL and Real Salt Lake during their Leagues Cup game at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
2. What you missed
- The U.S. economy grew at a 2.1% annualized rate in Q2, a significant slowdown from the Q1's 3.1% growth rate but better than the 1.9% economists expected. Go deeper.
- The Trump administration has directed the U.S. trade representative to seek to change the way the WTO treats some foreign competitors. Go deeper.
- The Justice Department has approved T-Mobile's deal to acquire Sprint. Go deeper.
- Exclusive: Researchers at Adobe have developed a new type of transparent display that allows virtual images and video to appear convincingly next to real objects. Go deeper.
3. 1 National Park thing

"Last year, about [National Park Service] 1,800 rangers reported making more than 25,000 speeding stops," USA Today reports.
Why it matters: "Some of America's most iconic animals ... are in danger every day from an unexpected angle: tourists crashing into them while sightseeing in national parks."
- "At Yosemite, rangers say at least 61 bears have been hit by cars in the past decade, and there's no way to track how many of those bears died as a result of their injuries."