Cyberbullying
The
sense of anonymity on the web makes it a perfect playground for
students to engage in cruel behavior. A study from the National Crime
Prevention Council (NCPC) states that 43 percent of teens reported
being victims of cyberbullying in the past year.
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What is Cyberbullying?
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Cyberbullying
is the deliberate and persistent harassment of an individual or a group
of individuals using one or more Internet-based communication methods.
Teenagers and pre-teens are the typical targets of cyberbullies, with
the initiators often being peers. Cyberbullying can cause severe self
esteem problems for their victims, sometimes leading to tragic results.
Cyberbullying
can consist of spreading lies and rumors about a person, insulting and
targeting a student's sexuality, physical appearance, deceiving
students into revealing personal information and then publishing it,
and/or posting personally identifiable information or photos without
the victim's consent.
Cyberbullies employ a number of methods to threaten, and disparage their targets. They include:
- Email
messages: While this is the most common form of electronic
communication, the use of this method for cyber bullying is less
pervasive since most e-mail programs allow the use of filters to block
offending e-mails.
- Instant Messaging:
Cyberbullies can and do use IM on computers and cell phones to send
harassing and threatening messages to their targets.
- Chat
rooms: Chat rooms allow cyberbullies to anonymously enter and write
anything they want, mocking and insulting their victims in a forum that
potentially has a large audience.
- Web sites:
Cyberbullies create web sites or use social networking sites or blogs
to mock, torment and harass the intended victims.
- Voting
/ Polling booths: Some web sites offer users the opportunity to create
online polling/voting booths. Cyberbullies use these to vote online for
some insulting topics (e.g.: "The Ugliest , Fattest, Dumbest etc.
Boy/Girl at ***** School).
By whatever means bullying is
accomplished, even when purely online, it has long term effects on both
victims and bullies, as well as bystanders. These effects can include
emotional and academic problems, and the bullies themselves are also at
increased risk of delinquency, crime and alcohol or drug abuse.
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Preventing Cyberbullying
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Awareness and education are the keys to the prevention of cyberbullying. - Restrict access to your online blogs, social networking profiles, and IM and Chat profiles to people you know and trust.
- Learn how to block people from your profiles before you need to know.
- Do
not share personal information online, whether in social networking
sites (MySpace for example), instant message profiles, chat rooms,
blogs, or personal websites.
- Do not share your passwords, even with friends.
- Do not open emails or read messages from someone you suspect is a bully.
- Don't take become a part of the problem - don't engage in spreading rumors or harassing others online.
- Don't send messages or make posts online when you are angry.
- Search for your name online to check for postings about you. Set up a Google alert for yourself to continually monitor it.
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Stopping Cyberbullying
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If
you are a victim of cyberbullying, the first thing you need to realize
is that you are not alone and it is not your fault. It is often a very
hurtful, difficult and time-consuming challenge to deal with the
effects of cyberbullying after it has occurred. It can take a lot of
time and effort to get Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Mobile
Telecommunications Service Providers (the phone companies who sell you
your cell phone and pagers) to respond and deal with your complaints
about being cyberbullied.
Specific steps families can take to stop cyberbullying:
- Tell the person harassing you in straight forward terms, "Leave me alone, stop harassing me. Do not contact me again."
- Do not reply to anything else the harasser says. No replies to emails, taunts or lies said about you.
- Log
all chats and IMs and save a copy as evidence. Save all e-mails and
text messages as well as voicemails or voice messages. Take screen
shots as well. Print all evidence, but keep the files on your hard
drive.
- In the case of email harassment you need to
contact the harasser's ISP (Internet Service Provider) and make a
complaint. If an offending website has been posted about you, contact
the web hosting service. If there are posts on a forum or bulletin
board, contact the moderators. All phone interactions should be
reported to the phone company.
- If the harassment is
coming from other students at the school, contact your school's
administration to see what action they would be willing to take.
- Keep
in mind that some types of bullying (threats to your child, or exposing
them to danger) may be illegal. Report it to local law enforcement
along with copies of the materials that you have collected.
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| About CyberAngels |
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As part of its mission of "keeping it safe" The Guardian Angels moved beyond the streets and
responded to citizens' calls for protection from online threats with the launch of
CyberAngels in 1995. The volunteer-based CyberAngels is one of the oldest and most
respected online safety education programs in the world. Our organization
offers articles, instruction, tips and resources via our website to promote safe Internet use
by children and families, guide parents, and assist victims of cyber crimes. |
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