Cyber BullyingJillian Ducato, Faith Horowitz, Mike Lennon

What is Cyber Bullying?

This includes:

Threats

Sexual remarks

Hate speech

Posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation

Ganging up on a victims by making them the subject of a ridicule.

•That National Crime Prevention Council defines it

as

“When the internet, cell phone or other devices

used to send or post text or images intended to

hurt or embarrass another person.”

CYBER-BULLYING FACTSNearly 35% of kids

have been threatened online

Nine out of ten middle school students have had their feelings hurt online.

75% have visited a Web site bashing another student.

Girls are about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyber-bullying.

About 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online (4th -8th graders)

How does Cyber Bullying happen?

Stealing an individual’s name and password to a social networking site, then using their profile to post rumors, gossip or other damaging information.

Altering photographs using PhotoShop or other photo editing software in order to humiliate the individual.

Recording conversations without the individual’s knowledge or consent, then posting the call online.

Using web sites and blogs to post hurtful, embarrassing information about another individual.

www.cyberbullyalert.com

Long Island, NY –Cyber bullying on Facebook

March 2009

A Facebook group was created to ridicule a high school student

Student sued Facebook and some of it’s user for a collective 3 million dollar lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that “four of the students’ former classmates created a closed, or password-protected page, where they said she used intravenous drugs, had "inappropriate conduct with animals," and had AIDS, as well as other sexually transmitted diseases.” (Jones InformationWeek.com)

Facebook was not held accountable due to the Communication Decency Act.

Communication Decency Act: as the first notable attempt by the United States Congress to regulate pornographic material on the Internet. It attempted to regulate both indecency (when available to children) and obscenity in cyberspace. Second, Section 230 of the Act has been interpreted to say that operators of Internet services are not to be construed as publishers (and thus not legally liable for the words of third parties who use their services

Lakeland, Fl - Teen Beating• April 2008

• 6 girls brutally beat another girl while 2 guys stood as lookout

• Videotaped

• All started because of trash talking on MySpace and text message

• Girl who was beaten suffered a concussion, temporary hearing loss in left hear, temporary blindness in left eye and cuts and bruises all over

Lakeland Teen Beating

Bullying Graph

34.4 % of teenagers have been cyber-bullied

3rd most popular way of being bullied

1`

Digital Abuse/Bullying

By Casi Lumbra: a member for MTV’s A Thin Line Campaign

Digital Abuse/Bullying – the use of digital technologies—such as cell phones, social networks, instant messaging and e-mail—to hurt someone even when you didn’t “mean” it.

It even includes high-risk digital activities, like "sexting"—the act of sending sexually explicit images and texts.

Also includes: harassing through text messaging, hacking into personal accounts, spying on people with keystroke loggers or changing their passwords

MySpace Suicide• September 2006

• 13 year-old Megan Meier committed suicide when a “fake” MySpace relationship ended

• Josh Evans was the creation of Lori Drew (ex-friend’s mother), her daughter whom used to be Meier’s friend and Ashley Grills (co-worker)

• October 15 – Josh no longer wanted to be friends with Meier and she started receiving cruel messages through MySpace

• Hanged herself after receiving the messages shortly before her 14th birthday

Megan Meier VideoMegan Meier Suicide

0 - :37

1:40 - 2:28

Ways to Avoid Digital Abuse Bullying

Keep your passwords private- password abuse is the root of much “cyber-evil”

Hit “delete” instead of “forward”- we have the power to break the cycle of “sexting”

Think twice- before posting something, think about it and it’s consequences

Report abuse on social networking sites- there are report buttons or you can contact the person in charge of the site

Ways to Avoid 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 cyber-bully only escalates the problem, and in turn, the victim becomes part of the problem.

Block the cyber-bully 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 a trusted adult. The messages posted by the cyber-bully 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 cyber-bullying experience with you.

Ways to Avoid (contd.)Understand that your actions can cause

harm to unseen others.

Learn to do what is right through your own moral code rather than in response to the potential of detection and punishment.

Learn to use effective decision-making strategies to help guide your behavior in a responsible way.

ConsequencesThe perception of invisibility and the lacking of

feedback can result in people distancing themselves from their actions. They believe that because it’s “just a game”, no one can get hurt.

It is well known that this is not so. Bullying in any form can result in long-term psychological harm such as low self-esteem, depression, anger, poor academic performance, truancy, and, in some cases, violence against self or others.

The effects of cyber-bullying are not limited to hurt feelings. Research suggests that victims of cyber-bullying respond much like traditional bullying victims in terms of negative emotions, such as feeling sad, anxious, and having lower self-esteem.

Consequences (contd.) When these negative emotions aren’t dealt with

properly, victims may resort to delinquency or suicide.

Online victims are eight times more likely to report carrying a weapon to school in the last 30 days than non-bullied victims

Cyber-bullying has led to at least 4 cases of suicide in the United States and many more abroad. Suicide related to cyber-bullying is called “cyberbullycide"

Cyberbullycide Incident