Cyberbullying
By: Danny Ramos
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is the use of technology to repetitively display an imbalance of power that is cruel to another person or group who is weaker.
Examples of cyberbullying:
· Sending someone mean or threatening emails, instant messages, or text messages.
· Excluding someone from an instant messenger buddy list or blocking their email for no reason.
· Tricking someone into revealing personal or embarrassing information and sending it to others.
· Breaking into someone's email or instant message account to send cruel or untrue messages while posing as that person.
· Creating websites to make fun of another person such as a classmate or teacher.
· Using websites to rate peers as prettiest, ugliest, etc.
Source: http://www.ncpc.org/topics/cyberbullying/what-is-cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is the use of technology to repetitively display an imbalance of power that is cruel to another person or group who is weaker.
Examples of cyberbullying:
· Sending someone mean or threatening emails, instant messages, or text messages.
· Excluding someone from an instant messenger buddy list or blocking their email for no reason.
· Tricking someone into revealing personal or embarrassing information and sending it to others.
· Breaking into someone's email or instant message account to send cruel or untrue messages while posing as that person.
· Creating websites to make fun of another person such as a classmate or teacher.
· Using websites to rate peers as prettiest, ugliest, etc.
Source: http://www.ncpc.org/topics/cyberbullying/what-is-cyberbullying
Who are the victims?
· Girls are about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyber bullying.
· Researchers found that children that are bullied at school are more likely to be victims of cyberbullying than those not bullied at school.
· Compared with other children, boys, children with lower self-esteem, and children who have negative relationship with their parents were more likely to be victims of bullying in Internet chartrooms.
Source: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
Source: http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html
· Girls are about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyber bullying.
· Researchers found that children that are bullied at school are more likely to be victims of cyberbullying than those not bullied at school.
· Compared with other children, boys, children with lower self-esteem, and children who have negative relationship with their parents were more likely to be victims of bullying in Internet chartrooms.
Source: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
Source: http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html
Who are the bullies?
· Popular kids or teens.
· Kids or teens who are less socially successful.
Source: http://www.deletecyberbullying.org/why-do-people-cyberbully/
· Popular kids or teens.
· Kids or teens who are less socially successful.
Source: http://www.deletecyberbullying.org/why-do-people-cyberbully/
How can parents help?
· Know the sites your kids visit and their online activities. Ask where they’re going, what they’re doing, and who they’re doing it with.
· Tell your kids that as a responsible parent you may review their online communications if you think there is reason for concern. Installing parental control filtering software or monitoring programs are one option for monitoring your child’s online behavior, but do not rely solely on these tools.
· Have a sense of what they do online and in texts. Learn about the sites they like. Try out the devices they use.
· Ask for their passwords, but tell them you’ll only use them in case of emergency.
· Ask to “friend” or “follow” your kids on social media sites or ask another trusted adult to do so.
· Encourage your kids to tell you immediately if they, or someone they know, is being cyberbullied. Explain that you will not take away their computers or cell phones if they confide in you about a problem they are having.
Source: http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/prevention/index.html
· Know the sites your kids visit and their online activities. Ask where they’re going, what they’re doing, and who they’re doing it with.
· Tell your kids that as a responsible parent you may review their online communications if you think there is reason for concern. Installing parental control filtering software or monitoring programs are one option for monitoring your child’s online behavior, but do not rely solely on these tools.
· Have a sense of what they do online and in texts. Learn about the sites they like. Try out the devices they use.
· Ask for their passwords, but tell them you’ll only use them in case of emergency.
· Ask to “friend” or “follow” your kids on social media sites or ask another trusted adult to do so.
· Encourage your kids to tell you immediately if they, or someone they know, is being cyberbullied. Explain that you will not take away their computers or cell phones if they confide in you about a problem they are having.
Source: http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/prevention/index.html
Stories of cyberbullying:
1) In December 2007, Tina Meier founded the nonprofit Megan Meier Foundation. The non-profit was named in honor of Tina’s 13-year-old daughter who hanged herself in a bedroom closet in October 2006. Megan struggled with attention deficit order and depression in addition to issues with her weight. About five weeks before her death, a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans asked Megan to be friends on the social networking website MySpace. The two began communicating online regularly, although they never met in person or spoke on the phone. “Megan had a lifelong struggle with weight and self-esteem,” Tina said on the Foundation website. “And now she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty.”
In mid-October, Josh began saying he didn’t want to be friends anymore, and the messages became more cruel on October 16, 2006, when Josh concluded by telling Megan, “The world would be a better place without you.” The cyberbullying escalated when additional classmates and friends on MySpace began writing disturbing messages and bulletins. Tina said on the Foundation website that it was about 20 minutes after Megan went to her room after leaving the computer that the mother found her daughter hanged herself in her bedroom closet. Megan died the following day, three weeks before what would have been her 14th birthday.
Aftermath: According to the Associated Press, it was later that fall when a neighbor informed Megan’s parents that Josh was not a real person. Instead, the account was created by another neighbor, Lori Drew, her 18-year-old temporary employee Ashley Grills, and Drew’s teenage daughter, who used to be friends with Megan. One year later, the case began receiving national attention. While the county prosecutor declined to file any criminal charges in the case, federal prosecuted charged her with one count of conspiracy and three violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for accessing protected computers without authorization. A federal grand jury indicted Drew on all four counts in 2008, but U.S. District Judge George Wu acquitted Drew in August 2009 and vacated the conviction.
In addition to the Megan Meier Foundation, Tina also worked closely to help Missouri legislature pass Senate Bill 818, unofficially known as “Megan’s Law,” in August 2008. In April 2009, U.S. Representative Linda Sánchez of California introduced the “Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act.”
2) In October 2012, ABC News reported that the video Amanda Todd had posted to YouTube had been viewed more than 17 million times. In the video entitled “My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm,” the British Columbia teenager uses flash cards to tell about her experiences of being blackmailed and bullied. A little over a month after posting the video on September 7, 2012, Amanda hanged herself in her home on October 10, 2012.
Amanda began using video chat in the seventh grade to meet new people online, and one stranger convinced the teenager to bare her breasts on camera. However, the stranger attempted to use the photo to blackmail Amanda, and the picture began circulating on the internet, including a Facebook profile that used the topless photograph as the profile image. “The Internet stalker she flashed kept stalking her,” Amanda’s mother, Carol Todd, told the Vancouver Sun. “Every time she moved schools he would go undercover and become a Facebook friend.”
Aftermath: Less than a week after Amanda’s death, Canada’s CTV News reported that lawmakers would consider a motion seeking to lay the groundwork for a national bullying prevention strategy. The Amanda Todd Legacy, the official blog administered by the teenager’s family, strives to “serve as a bulletin board for all special events and initiatives to support anti-bullying education, help young people struggling with mental health issues and support educational programs that help people with learning disabilities.”
Unfortunately, these are only some of the stories that are occurring all around us on a daily basis. These cyber bullying cases demonstrate that there are actions that many members of the community can take to prevent additional harassment. Parents, educators and other school officials need to recognize signs of cyberbullying, and we must all make a more concerted effort to help its victims.
Source: http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/
1) In December 2007, Tina Meier founded the nonprofit Megan Meier Foundation. The non-profit was named in honor of Tina’s 13-year-old daughter who hanged herself in a bedroom closet in October 2006. Megan struggled with attention deficit order and depression in addition to issues with her weight. About five weeks before her death, a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans asked Megan to be friends on the social networking website MySpace. The two began communicating online regularly, although they never met in person or spoke on the phone. “Megan had a lifelong struggle with weight and self-esteem,” Tina said on the Foundation website. “And now she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty.”
In mid-October, Josh began saying he didn’t want to be friends anymore, and the messages became more cruel on October 16, 2006, when Josh concluded by telling Megan, “The world would be a better place without you.” The cyberbullying escalated when additional classmates and friends on MySpace began writing disturbing messages and bulletins. Tina said on the Foundation website that it was about 20 minutes after Megan went to her room after leaving the computer that the mother found her daughter hanged herself in her bedroom closet. Megan died the following day, three weeks before what would have been her 14th birthday.
Aftermath: According to the Associated Press, it was later that fall when a neighbor informed Megan’s parents that Josh was not a real person. Instead, the account was created by another neighbor, Lori Drew, her 18-year-old temporary employee Ashley Grills, and Drew’s teenage daughter, who used to be friends with Megan. One year later, the case began receiving national attention. While the county prosecutor declined to file any criminal charges in the case, federal prosecuted charged her with one count of conspiracy and three violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for accessing protected computers without authorization. A federal grand jury indicted Drew on all four counts in 2008, but U.S. District Judge George Wu acquitted Drew in August 2009 and vacated the conviction.
In addition to the Megan Meier Foundation, Tina also worked closely to help Missouri legislature pass Senate Bill 818, unofficially known as “Megan’s Law,” in August 2008. In April 2009, U.S. Representative Linda Sánchez of California introduced the “Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act.”
2) In October 2012, ABC News reported that the video Amanda Todd had posted to YouTube had been viewed more than 17 million times. In the video entitled “My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm,” the British Columbia teenager uses flash cards to tell about her experiences of being blackmailed and bullied. A little over a month after posting the video on September 7, 2012, Amanda hanged herself in her home on October 10, 2012.
Amanda began using video chat in the seventh grade to meet new people online, and one stranger convinced the teenager to bare her breasts on camera. However, the stranger attempted to use the photo to blackmail Amanda, and the picture began circulating on the internet, including a Facebook profile that used the topless photograph as the profile image. “The Internet stalker she flashed kept stalking her,” Amanda’s mother, Carol Todd, told the Vancouver Sun. “Every time she moved schools he would go undercover and become a Facebook friend.”
Aftermath: Less than a week after Amanda’s death, Canada’s CTV News reported that lawmakers would consider a motion seeking to lay the groundwork for a national bullying prevention strategy. The Amanda Todd Legacy, the official blog administered by the teenager’s family, strives to “serve as a bulletin board for all special events and initiatives to support anti-bullying education, help young people struggling with mental health issues and support educational programs that help people with learning disabilities.”
Unfortunately, these are only some of the stories that are occurring all around us on a daily basis. These cyber bullying cases demonstrate that there are actions that many members of the community can take to prevent additional harassment. Parents, educators and other school officials need to recognize signs of cyberbullying, and we must all make a more concerted effort to help its victims.
Source: http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/
Concluding Remarks
Anyone can become bullied online because of its anonymity and because social media and technology is so accessible. People who are cyberbullies do not see the reactions to their actions and do not care as much about whether or not they are hurting others. Many people are cyberbullies because there are many reasons they might bully: (again) anonymity, for attention, for a reaction, because of boredom, accidentally, to keep their social status, to feel powerful, to torment others, to boost ego, etc. We should always watch what we say and post to other people online because there might be consequences to follow.
Anyone can become bullied online because of its anonymity and because social media and technology is so accessible. People who are cyberbullies do not see the reactions to their actions and do not care as much about whether or not they are hurting others. Many people are cyberbullies because there are many reasons they might bully: (again) anonymity, for attention, for a reaction, because of boredom, accidentally, to keep their social status, to feel powerful, to torment others, to boost ego, etc. We should always watch what we say and post to other people online because there might be consequences to follow.
Source: http://www.tomthumb.info/tt/index.php/2012/04/01/stats-on-bullying-in-the-u-s/