STATES STANDUP TO CYBERBULLIES
Ryan Patrick Halligan was bullied for months online. Classmates sent the 13-year-old boy instant messages calling him gay. He was threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly by so-called cyberbullies. Ref. https://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/02/2...g.ap/index.html
Cyberbullies (Hover)
Poor kid. Sometimes I wonder if parents in general brush off these type of things? There are always signs when a kid is being bullied and parents need to take these things very seriously. My heart goes to this kid and his family.
There are a lot of kids who are very cruel, I remember watching in Oprah a similar case but of a girl, the mother of the victim took the bullying girls to court and these girls showed no remorse whatsoever for the death of this girl, they laughed, they even mocked the mother of the victim and told her that while she is on the girl's funeral they will go party. It makes my blood boil when you hear things like that.
Nevertheless, how can cyberbullying be controlled or stopped? It is precisely because the internet is anonymous they can do things like that and get away with it. In the end, everything is about proper and real parenthood and how these kids are being raised.
However, the bullied student only needs to change their screen name and keep it to themselves in order to break the cycle.
I, personally, don't believe in backing down to bullies in any way (wether online or in "real" life). I believe that this is a cold world we live in, and the best way to not be trampled on is to stand up for one's self.
Unfortunately, access to this link is no longer available, but I will respond to this thread anyway.
I think that it is very sad that individuals have found ways to abuse technology. Instead of using the computer to gain more knowledge, they choose to use it as a way of torturing others. I have watched a segment on Dr Phil show that was dedicated to cyberbullies. Many students have committed suicide because of this and in some cases, the parents never knew how much their children were suffering, until after they died. There was a movie recently shown on Lifetime Movie Channel called "Odd Girl Out" and I think that parents and children should watch this movie. It highlights how cyberbullying consumes the victim's whole life and how adversely the individual is affected by this problem. To address this problem, everyone needs to understand how serious it is and not dismiss it as "every child goes through that phase!" Parents and teachers need to be educated on what signs to look for and what to do, when children are being bullied.
Edited: Geenie on 25th Jun, 2007 - 10:24pm
Cyberbullies come in all shapes and sizes. You have the type that will be outright with you from the start and let you know that it's their way or no way. There the kind of cyberbully that does it more subtle where they ng you over and over because they aren't getting response from you that they want and so they hope that by bombarding you online will make you give in. Then there's the one that goes all ver social networks spreading rumors about you.