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"If you are a victim of bullying, please tell someone!"
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"We need the children to know how serious this is, that it is not fun and games. Bullying can be as dangerous as a gun, or a drunk driver. " -Shauna Kasey |
April 15, 2008
KENTUCKY becomes the 35th state to pass an anti bullying law!
Read the new law rated A++ by BullyPolice.org
Does your state have bullying legislation?
BullyPolice.org is a watch-dog organization advocating for bullied children and reporting on state anti-bullying laws.
From Kentucky Attorney General's Office...
Request iSafe Training for your school or organization
Faces of
Cyberbullycide
Rachael Neblett
Rachael was stalked online by anonymous bully. She died by suicide on October 9, 2006.
View a tribute to Rachael
Ryan Halligan
Interview with John Halligan who's 13-year old son, Ryan, died by suicide as a result of bullying at school and online.
Jeffrey's mother Debbie Johnston writes,
"With the keyboard as his weapon, the bully violated the sanctity of my home and murdered my child just as surely as if he had crawled through a broken window and choked the life from Jeff with his bare hands. It was not a death that was quick and merciful. It was carried out with lies, rumors and calculated cruelty portioned out day by day.”
Read Bullycide in America: Moms speak out about the bully/suicide connection
Megan Meier
A cruel hoax by a neighbor led to suicide death of Megan. Read her story >
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic communication, such as:.
- Instant Messaging (IM)
- Text messages or digital images sent on mobile phones
- Social networking sites, web pages, blogs, virtual worlds
- Chat rooms or discussion groups
- Interactive game sites
The term "cyberbullying" is used when the victim or bully is a child or teen. The term cyber harassment is used when the victim is an adult.
Common Cyberbullying Tactics
- Stealing someone’s online name and using it to write nasty rumors, comment, or spread gossip.
- Altering someone’s message or doctoring photographs to say something different or poke fun at a person.
- Secretly recording conversations using a cell phone, then playing the recording back for the person being discussed.
- Posting damaging information on blogs or web sites.
- Creating or taking part in Internet polling.
Dealing with Cyberbullying
Teach children to:- Stop Don’t respond to the bully. Victims often want to befriend the bully to solve the problem or even worse they want to retaliate. Responding to the cyberbully only escalates the problem, and in turn, the victim becomes part of the problem.
- Block Block the cyberbully or limit all communications to those you can trust. This is especially effective with bullying in chat rooms, Instant messaging, and email. Most electronic communication programs allow users to block specific screen names or email addresses. With social networking sites it may be necessary to delete the child's current account and open a new one that limits access to trusted friends. In some cases, it may be necessary for the victim to stay off the computer for a short period of time to remove themselves as the target of the attack.
- Tell Tell a trusted adult. The messages posted by the cyberbully are often vulgar or embarrassing. Victims often keep the bullying a secret for this reason. Also, kids are afraid that the adult will overreact and remove the source of the problem - the computer or cell phone -- or react in an irrational manner. Encourage children to tell someone if they are harassed or threatened online or if someone they know is bullied. Reassure the child that you will not overreact if they discuss a cyberbullying experience with you.
If your child is bullied online:
- Do not erase the evidence
- Contact your Internet provider, the social networking site, or cell phone company and file a complaint
- Contact the child’s school if the bullying is school-related
- Contact local law enforcement if your child has been threatened or if a crime has been committed.
- Report cyberbullying to the CyberTipline.
If the cyberbully makes statements which places the victim in reasonable fear for his or her physical safety or if the cyberbully continues to threaten or harass the victim, despite warnings, notify law enforcement.
A cyberbully can be traced. Each time the Internet is accessed, an IP (Internet Protocol) address, a type of electronic fingerprint, is established. This IP address can be used by the authorities to trace all electronic communications between computers and/or mobile phones.
Cyberstalking is a crime!!
Kentucky has passed new bullying legislation for schools. HB91 was signed April 15th, and went into effect July 1, 2008. Among other requirements, this law requires school officials to contact law enforcement officials if a student has been the victim of a violation of a felony offence specified in KRS Chapter 508 which was committed by another student while on school premises, on school-sponsored transportation, or at a school-sponsored event.
Cyperbullying Statistics
Four in ten teens (43%) have experienced online harassment.
Teens who share their identities and thoughts on social networking sites, such as MySpace and FaceBook, are more likely to be targets than are those who do not use social networking sites (39% have been cyberbullied in someway, compared with 22% of online teens who do not use social networks).
Here are some additional cyberbullying statistics from iSafe.
- 22% of students know someone who has been bullied online.
- 19% of students admit to saying something hurtful to others online.
- 12% of students have personally become upset by strangers online.
- 90% of middle school students have had their feelings hurt online.
- 75% have visited a web site bashing another student
- 40% have had their password(s) stolen and changed by a bully
Only 15% of parents polled knew what cyberbullying was!
Data based on 2005-06 iSafe survey of 13,000 students in grades 5 to 12.
Consequences of Cyberbullying
The effects of cyberbullying are not limited to hurt feelings. Research suggests that victims of cyberbullying respond much like traditional bullying victims in terms of negative emotions, such as feeling sad, anxious, and having lower self-esteem.
- Online victims are eight times more likely to report carrying a weapon to school in the last 30 days than non-bullied victims
- Cyberbullying has led to at least 4 cases of suicide in the United States and many more abroad. Suicide related to cyberbullying is called “cyberbullycide”
Why Do Kids Cyberbully?
New studies published in the book, "Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard" by Hinduja and Patchin, charts the following reasons why youth bully online:
- 22% motivated by revenge
- 18.7% said the victim deserved it
- 10.6 % said they did it for fun
- 3.9% hated the victim
- 3.5% pressured by peers
- 2.8% retaliated against a bully
- 2.5% venting anger
- 5.7% other reasons
According to the 2007 Executive Research Summary "Teens and Cyberbullying" produced by the National Crime Prevention Council, when teens were asked why they were cyberbullied, they responded
- They think it’s funny (81%)
- They don’t think it’s a big deal
- They don’t think about the consequences
- They are encouraged by friends
- They think everybody cyberbullies
- They think they won’t get caught
Read more>>
Resources for Parents and Educators
Suggestions for Parents when Dealing with Bullying and Cyberbullying
How to Stop or Remove Cyber Info
Delete Cyberbullying PSA - National Crime Prevention Council