Cyberbullying takes hurt to a new level
Source: Vancouver Sun
HACKENSACK, N.J. – It used to be that a teenager who was pushed into a locker or taunted for somehow being different could escape to the haven of home after school.
Not any longer.
Bullying has expanded beyond the playground and into the personal space of students. Even in their bedrooms, kids often can’t escape the threats of bullies, thanks to cruel texts, phony Facebook profiles, even online gaming. Read more
Mom’s Talk Q&A: Cyberbullying in Schools
Source: Bristol-WarrenPatch
With today’s technology, many parents like myself have learned that the world of bullying has expanded to a whole new realm for children. Over the past few years it has become apparent that bullying doesn’t end when the school day ends. For some of our children, they face bullying all day, everyday, through emails, social media outlets and text messages. Read more
Cyber-Bullying Affects 25 Percent of Teens
Source: LosGatosPatch
It seems that you can’t turn on the news these days without reading stories about teens, mostly girls, committing suicide due to online or cyber-bullying.
Shockingly, a survey of 11-18 year old girls revealed that 39 percent have posted something online they regretted and 37 percent have used Internet sites to make fun of other students, according to www.commonsensemedia.org. Read more
Explore Anywhere CEO Newsletter – March 2011
The need for parents to be involved in the lives of their children has never been more apparent than in the world of computers, email and texts. Children who experience the wisdom and advice of their parents throughout their journey to adulthood perform better than their peers and receive several key advantages, not the least of which is guidance on how to handle adversity in the classroom.
The problem that faces parents today is that children are relying more and more on electronic forms of communication to find their voice and to connect with their peers. Technology moves at such a rapid pace; most parents find it difficult if not impossible to keep up with their children’s technical knowledge. These issues were on center stage during the most recent student assault at McLaughlin Middle School in Manchester, NH. Read more
Cyberbullying an epidemic
By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson – Source: Adelaidenow.com.au
ONE in four school children is being bullied using modern technology, and that frightening ratio could go even higher as more children get access to computers and phones.
Traditional schoolyard bullying is now taking place over the internet and via phone messages.
A 2008 Galaxy Research poll found one-quarter of schoolchildren suffer from cyberbullying, but Alannah and Madeline Foundation cybersafety general manager Jackie Van Vugt said that figure could be higher.
“We have research showing 1 in 10 students is being cyberbullied every few weeks,” she says. “The latest research we have was done a few years ago now, and evidence from overseas shows it’s at much higher rates in the US and the UK now.” Read more
Cyber-Bullying: A Growing Probelm
Source: Dan Conradt – ABC News
A generation ago, it didn’t even exist, but now cyber-bullying is becoming more and more of a problem.
“A type of bullying that happens via some sort of technology,” said Lea Oelfke at Ellis Middle School in Austin.
But things have changed a lot in a generation. Like the technology that spawned it, cyber-bullying is growing out of control.
“We’ve seen a lot more viciousness in the content and a greater amount of it happening,” Oelfke said.
It often involves topics like peer conflicts and relationship issues. And in a world of instant communication, word spreads quickly.
“They used to be between 1 or 2 or 3 kids” Oelfke said. But that, too has changed: “It’s 20 kids, 50 kids know about it.”
“A lot of my friends do experience things like this,” said Austin High School senior Anthony Jax. “They will go on other people’s pages and say rude things about them just to get them fired up, just to get a reaction.”
Often with serious consequences.
“They start to shut down and they start to withdraw, then we start seeing things here at school,” said Ellis Middle School’s Lea Oelfke. Read more
Facebook page draws police scrutiny for cyberbullying
It was vicious high school gossip gone digital.
Sometime in the past few days, Pennsylvania State Police said a Facebook user created an online forum on the social networking site titled “Beaver County Hoez.”
On it, the anonymous user posted photos of girls and young women from Beaver County and included sexually explicit captions and fictitious accounts of sexual encounters. Many of the girls were labeled “hoez.”
State police announced Wednesday they were launching an investigation and that they were working with Facebook to pull the plug on the site. It was removed sometime Wednesday evening, though it was unclear if police intervention prompted that.
For those who were featured on the site, though, it was too late. Word of site spread like wildfire through school hallways, prompting sneers and harassment from classmates, said Raven Blair, a 2010 graduate of Beaver Falls High School. Read more
12-Year-Old Girl Punched In Face During Alleged Bullying Attack
Mother Says School Ignored Case Of Extreme Bullying
Source: WMUR
12-Year-Old Girl Punched In Face During Alleged Bullying Attack
Mother Says School Ignored Case Of Extreme Bullying
MANCHESTER, N.H. — A Manchester woman says her 12-year-old daughter was the victim of extreme bullying at McLaughlin Middle School in Manchester.
Morgan Graveline is recovering after she said a boy at her school punched out her two front teeth.
The attack came two weeks after Graveline said she was hit in the face by the boy’s friend on the school bus.
The girl told WMUR on Saturday night that she had just gone to her principal and guidance counselor to report threats from the boys.
Now, Graveline’s mother, Danielle Gauthier, is calling for the removal her daughter’s Principal at McLaughlin Middle School.
Gauthier said a bus driver reported the initial school bus attack, but she said the principal never made her aware. Read more
Keep kids safe from cyberbullies
Source: CNN
Cyberbullying is a growing national concern, with roughly 75 percent of teenagers using cell phones, the most common instrument of harassment. The U.S. education secretary has been talking about it, and the Department of Justice held a cyberbullying summit.
But local communities increasingly are addressing the problem. Indeed, three separate pieces of legislation are being introduced in the Arizona legislature to address the growing problem. And Thursday night, a nonprofit I’m involved in, StandAgainstBullying.org, will be hosting an open and free event in Phoenix to address the very serious issue of cyberbullying.
I will be there, along with concerned parents, academics, school administrators and other state officials, including the attorney general, the chief of police, the state superintendent of education and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
Every cable network, every news channel and almost every newspaper has reported on the issue. And just as we were all beginning to wrap our collective minds around the problem, another facet of it cropped up: sextortion, where teens who send graphic images of themselves to friends are being threatened –blackmailed — by third parties, who capture those images to send even more and more images. Read more