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"everyday matters
magazine -- severn covenant church -- ben carson -- men -- emotions --
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*************************************************************************************** |
e v e r y d a y i s s u e s
f o r e v e r y d a y p
e o p l e |
 |
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By
Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin-Eau
Claire)
Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., (Florida
Atlantic
University)
Andrew is a typical
14 year-old kid trying to survive his first year of
High School. About half way through the year he
suddenly discovered that some kids at his school set
up a website devoted to making hateful comments about
him and his family. Doctored photographs were included
with cruel captions under each image. What were
Andrew’s options? And here’s the kick in the teeth –
even after the police were notified, the website
stayed up for over 7 months! What’s Andrew or other
victims of cyberbullying to do?
·
Tommy sends Marcia an anonymous email:
“ur fat,
stupid and ugly. everybody hates u.”
·
Keirsten PhotoShops® an almost-naked picture with Kate’s face and
posts it on MySpace®.
”what a
skanky b**ch!”
·
Maria sends Mike repeated emails:
“ur hot
and I want to go to the prom with u”
and then she cc’s all her girlfriends and says,
“it’s a
joke. he’s a creep.”
·
Robert sends a text message to Jose’s cell phone:
“if u go
out with Jessica I will beat ur a** in front of ur
friends.”
·
LaShonda anonymously posts a note in a popular after-school study
group chat:
“Bridget
is the biggest, easiest s**t in the whole school.”
Teachers, parents, and students are all too familiar
with the challenges associated with bullying at
school. But what about bullying that happens away
from school grounds – in the digital world?
Cyberbullying, where adolescents use technology to
harm their peers, has become increasingly common in
recent years.
Our research in schools shows that cyberbullying is a
pervasive problem affecting as many as one-third of
middle and high school students. Its consequences
reach into the real world as well, and have been
linked to school and family problems, depression,
delinquency, and suicidal thoughts. As one victim
told us: “It makes me hurt both physically and
mentally. It scares me and takes away all my
confidence. It makes me feel sick and worthless.”
Many adults still don’t know about cyberbullying, or
dismiss it as something that can be easily ignored.
Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Cyberbullying
can affect youth in ways that traditionally bullying
does not. This is tough stuff. |
|
|
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First, victims often do not know who the bully is or why
they are being targeted. The cyberbully can cloak his or
her identity behind a computer or cell phone using anonymous
email addresses or pseudonymous screen names.
Second, the hurtful actions of a cyberbully are viral; that
is, the whole school can be involved in a cyber-attack on a
victim, or at least find out about the incident with a few
keystrokes or clicks of the mouse. The perception, then, is
that absolutely everyone knows about it. This can
make life unbearable for the victim.
Findings from a recent study of middle-school
students
-
10% of students
indicated they had been cyberbullied in the last
thirty days while 17% of students experienced
cyberbullying over their lifetime
-
8% admitted to
cyberbullying others over the last 30 days, and
18% had done so over the course of their
lifetime
-
27% of victims
say they were cyberbullied by someone from their
school
-
41%
of cyberbullying victims told their parents
about the experience
-
20% of students
said that threats made online are carried out at
school
|
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Thankfully, there are many resources available for teachers
and parents who desire to address cyberbullying. The
following are some topics (to be distributed freely) that
are available on
www.cyberbullying.us:
-
Cyberbullying fact sheets covering different facets of the
problem
-
Summaries of recent research
-
Commonly-used chat abbreviations and acronyms
-
Warning signs that someone may be experiencing
cyberbullying as a victim or bully
-
Information about collecting and preserving evidence of
cyberbullying
-
Activities for parents and teachers to begin a dialog with
children about cyberbullying
Despite the challenges, we urge all adults to take a
proactive role in dealing with cyberbullying and other
online misbehaviors of adolescents. Monitor your
child’s online activities. Talk to teenagers about what
they are doing on the Internet and teach them how to use
technology responsibly. Communicate to youth that all
forms of bullying are wrong, and intervene when you see
or hear about instances of peer conflict. Parents,
teachers, and other community members must work together
to combat this insidious adolescent problem to ensure
that it does not escalate in frequency and seriousness.
|

|
Authors:
Justin Patchin and Sameer Hinduja are authors of Bullying
beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to
Cyberbullying which is available from Corwin Press.
More information about the book can be found at
www.cyberbullyingbook.com .
Go to
www.cyberbullying.us for more
practical advice on how to identify and fight cyberbullying.
|
© Copyright 2008. Used by written permission.
From the authors, Justin Patchin and Sameer Hinduja |
What can adults do to
prevent and address cyber bullying?
Adults seldom
are present in the online environments frequented by
children and youth. Therefore, it is extremely important
that adults pay close attention to the cyber bullying
and the activities of children and youth when using
these new technologies.
Suggestions for
parents*
Tips to help
prevent cyber bullying:
-
Keep your home computer(s) in easily viewable places ,
such as a family room or kitchen.
-
Talk
regularly with your child about on-line activities he
or she is involved in.
-
Talk specifically about cyber bullying and encourage
your child to tell you immediately if he or she is
the victim of cyber bullying, cyberstalking, or
other illegal or troublesome on-line behavior.
-
Encourage your child to tell you if he or she is
aware of others who may be the victims of such
behavior.
-
Explain that cyber bullying is harmful and
unacceptable behavior. Outline your expectations
for responsible online behavior and make it clear
that there will be consequences for inappropriate
behavior.
-
Although adults must respect the privacy of children
and youth, concerns for your child’s safety may
sometimes override these privacy concerns. Tell your
child that you may review his or her on-line
communications if you think there is reason for
concern.
-
Consider installing parental control filtering
software and/or tracking programs, but don’t rely
solely on these tools.
Tips for dealing
with cyber bullying that your child has experienced:
Because cyber
bullying can range from rude comments to lies,
impersonations, and threats, your responses may depend
on the nature and severity of the cyber bullying. Here
are some actions that you may want to take
after-the-fact.
-
Strongly encourage your child not to respond to the
cyber bullying.
-
Do
not erase the messages or pictures. Save these as
evidence.
-
Try
to identify the individual doing the cyber bullying.
Even if the cyberbully is anonymous (e.g., is using a
fake name or someone else’s identity) there may be a
way to track them through your Internet Service
Provider. If the cyber bullying is criminal (or if you
suspect that it may be), contact the police and ask
them to do the tracking.
-
Sending inappropriate language may violate the “Terms
and Conditions” of e-mail services, Internet Service
Providers, web sites, and cell phone companies.
Consider contacting these providers and filing a
complaint.
-
If
the cyber bullying is coming through e-mail or a cell
phone, it may be possible to block future contact from
the cyberbully. Of course, the cyberbully may assume a
different identity and continue the bullying.
-
Contact your school. If the cyber bullying is
occurring through your school district’s Internet
system, school administrators have an obligation to
intervene. Even if the cyber bullying is occurring off
campus, make your school administrators aware of the
problem. They may be able to help you resolve the
cyber bullying or be watchful for face-to-face
bullying.
-
Consider contacting the cyberbully’s parents. These
parents may be very concerned to learn that their
child has been cyber bullying others, and they may
effectively put a stop to the bullying. On the other
hand, these parents may react very badly to your
contacting them. So, proceed cautiously. If you decide
to contact a cyberbully’s parents, communicate with
them in writing — not face-to-face. Present proof of
the cyber bullying (e.g., copies of an e-mail message)
and ask them to make sure the cyber bullying stops.
-
Consider contacting an attorney in cases of serious
cyber bullying. In some circumstances, civil law
permits victims to sue a bully or his or her parents
in order to recover damages.
-
Contact the police if cyber bullying involves acts
such as:
-
Threats of violence
-
Extortion
-
Obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages
-
Harassment, stalking, or hate crimes
-
Child pornography
If you are uncertain if cyber bullying violates your
jurisdiction’s criminal laws, contact your local police,
who will advise you.
Suggestions for
educators
-
Educate your students, teachers, and other staff
members about cyber bullying, its dangers, and what to
do if someone is cyberbullied.
-
Be
sure that your school’s anti-bullying rules and
policies address cyber bullying.
-
Closely monitor students’ use of computers at school.
-
Use
filtering and tracking software on all computers, but
don’t rely solely on this software to screen out cyber
bullying and other problematic on-line behavior.
-
Investigate reports of cyber bullying immediately. If
cyber bullying occurs through the school district’s
Internet system, you are obligated to take action. If
the cyber bullying occurs off-campus,
consider what actions
you might take to help address the
bullying:
-
Notify parents of victims and parents of
cyberbullies of known or suspected cyber bullying.
-
Notify the police if the known or suspected cyber
bullying involves a threat.
-
Closely monitor the behavior of the affected
students at school for possible bullying.
-
Talk with all students about the harms caused by
cyber bullying. Remember — cyber bullying that
occurs off-campus can travel like wildfire among
your students and can affect how they behave and
relate to each other at school.
-
Investigate to see if the victim(s) of cyber
bullying could use some support from a school
counselor or school-based mental health
professional.
-
Contact the police immediately if known or suspected
cyber bullying involves acts such as:
-
Threats of violence
-
Extortion
-
Obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages
-
Harassment, stalking, or hate crimes
-
Child pornography
-- Open source information from the Department of Health
and Human Services (HRSA):
_____________________________________________________________________
|
EDITOR IN CHIEF: Joel A Freeman, Ph.D.
CONTACT
410.991.9718
EMAIL

Manute Bol
Joni Eareckson Tada
___________________________________________________________
|
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"everyday
issues for everyday people"
everyday magazine Box 305, Gambrills, Maryland 21054
TEL 410-729-4011 Cell: 410-991-9718 FAX
410-729-0353
EMAIL
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"everyday matters
magazine -- ben carson -- severn covenant church" |