With MySpace, Facebook, and even instant messaging cyber-bullying has become a big problem for school-aged kids. In my Education class we talked about how to handle bullies in the classroom, but that can be the easy part. My professor said that cyber-bullying is actually on its way to becoming illegal.
For all the good that can come out of social networks (making new friends, connecting with old friends, business contacts, sharing pictures, etc...), it also creates a forum for abuse, and sometimes kids will log on with nicknames so their bullying cannot be traced. If any of you are parents, or have younger siblings, have you had any experiences with cyber-bullying? I know my sister, who is in high school, has seen this first hand. It makes me happy MySpace was not around when I was in high school!
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4 comments:
Cyber-bullying is not really much of a threat, in my opinion. It's one of those things that the news likes to grab onto and scare people with. I wouldn't worry much about it.
I agree that the media likes to grab onto issues and make them a bigger issue. However, if you haven't been a victim of cyber-bullying you may not understand what trouble it can cause. I do not know when you were in high school, but if MySpace was around during that time you may remember people bad-mouthing, and name-calling through the site. Being such a public domain, and one many students visit, including your own classmates, it is easy for kids to spread rumors about each other, gossip, and belittle one another. This follows them into school. If you knew any outcasts in high school that were bullied, imagine it on a higher, larger scale. It is an issue we talk about in my courses, for elementary education, so it is something I will think about.
Wasn't there a girl in St. Louis who killed herself about this? If I remember correctly there was a mother and daughter who posed as a (teenage) boy on MySpace. He befriended the girl and eventually started saying really mean things to her - like how the world would be better off without her and how he didn't want to be her friend because she was rude and mean to her friends. I don't remember the exact details - it was something like that, though.
Truthfully, I don't think cyber-bullying is anything to worry about. Kids havebeen bulying each other since long before Myspace came along. Social networking sites are vehicles for social phenomenon which includes, unfortunately, bullying.
If we are to worry about social networking sites' bully-harboring potential, we must also worry about the school bus, lunchroom, gymnasium, playground, etc...these sites are just somewhere new for kids to do what they've always done.
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