KATU, UP and 12 high schools team up to fight cyberbullying
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KATU, the University of Portland and 12 area high schools held their first annual Cyberbullying Conference Tuesday. It was an opportunity to learn how to identify it and take action to establish a zero-tolerance policy in our community to cyberbullying. To watch this story, please click on the "Play Video" button.
My youngest daughter (youngest of 6) is nice to others, very responsible, easy going, etc. She also has many friends. I never thought I would have any issues with her in school, but in middle school, a girl that she knew, was jealous of her and tried to take away some of her closest friends and even had her mom help her with some things. Besides the crap that started at school, she also started cyber bullying. She made up lies about my daughter and posted them online. Starting puberty is a hard thing to go through anyway, but then having lies about you online for all to read makes it sooo much worse! The other girl talked other kids into trying to beat up my daughter... she got shoved and knocked down on the way home from school. One girl did go up to my daughter and tell her that the other girl wanted people to beat my daughter up.... but even though she doesn't like my daughter she didn't think it was right to beat her up so she just wanted to tell her.  The other girls mom went to my daughter's friend's mom and told lies to the mom about my daughter. Fortunately the mom knew my daughter well enough to call me and talk to me about it. I ended up calling the school and getting the school involved and they did step in to make sure my daughter was safe. The other girl ended up getting suspended from school for things she was doing and her mom wasn't allowed on the school grounds after trying to run down another kid with her car! My daughter is now a senior in high school and has been doing well but it was a rough time in middle school.  I had boys in school before this and always worried about fighting, etc.. but it wasn't until my daughter that there were issues. Preteen/teen girls can be horrible to each other!!  I also know of another girl who had pictures pulled from the internet and they put her head on a nude body and reposted them. She was just starting high school and all the kids thought the pics were really hers! She was so embarrassed that she didn't want to go back to school anymore! Cyber bullying is a huge next step in bullying and reaches out to touch many more people! It's very scary!
just hack the bullies accounts.
Good grief our kids are coddled. So much in fact there needs to be a news article about cyber bullying? Here's some advice kids- IGNORE it. Because once you get in the real world there are more important things to deal with. And if we keep babying our kids they won't know how to deal with bigger problems as an adult.
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I'm so glad I grew up with out "unsocial" media!
i remember when a bully was someone who physically beat you up and took your lunch money.
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now a bully is someone who doesnt agree with you, and tells you so online?
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 @Rey ArtebÂ
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I think it is more of a person calling you "Fatty Fatty Stupid Head" and getting another 20 people to spam your social media accounts with the same thing.
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Then of course some genius Photoshopâs your head on some nude body performing some act and then that gets re-Tweeted 500 times by the group.
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But yea I agree with you. To me a bully stops me in a public space and yells in my face. When I ignore them they get mad (because bullies have self esteem issues and work them out by trying to make others feel bad) and takes a swing at you, feeling empowered by a group who help them or being larger than you.
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The only part about this that resembles real bullying is that there is a group, and they want you to feel bad. Violence or the threat of it seems to be lacking in this kind of bullying.
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Could a parent with a kid in the "tweens" to teens tell me how much of an issue this is?
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With all the publicity this has gotten it appears it is a constant and often deadly thing in children's lives. Like bigger issue than auto accidents and child molestations.
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I have heard of a few instances, but the way it is being played is that there exists some cabal of "cool" kids (or loaners or some group whatever) who use social media and herd mentality to convince numerous kids into hurting themselves.
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I was bullied. I was small. I took on bullies, even when they were bigger than me. I hate bullies. I know how to spot them, and as an adult, know how to deal with them (in far more productive ways then when I was a kid).
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But it seems to me there will always be groups or individuals who want to exclude someone for any or no reason at all. They want to feel superior so they taunts, tease and poke fun at others.
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How is this any different than it was face-to-face? Indeed at those moments, my experience tells me it will turn to violence. On the innerwebs you can't go punch a bully in the nose. I think I would have spent a lot less time in in-school suspension if I had been cyber bullied.
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@Repoman - I think a lot of it has to do with how children are these days compared to 30-40 years ago. I am 50. I wasn't bullied in school and I actually defended other kides who were because I didn't think it was cool. I even got an Article 15 in the Army for 'Destruction of Government Property for beating the crap out of some one in my unit for 'bulling' my roommate in the barracks. My roommate was a dork, but didn't treat him poorly and when someone beat him up, they got theirs. Today it seems that kids are to 'sensitive' due to the way they are being raised. I can't imagine killing myself due to someone talking smack on the internet about me. But there have been several suicides lately due to this. I believe that is why this is a big 'news' issue.
It is time for people to grow up. Some will always be bullies, whether internet or face to face. If parents and others notice bullying going on, they need to keep an eye on it. Kids or adults who bully have problems.
Turning the other cheek may hel sometimes, other times they need to be reported
calling a person fat, ugly, stupid or any other non racial name is freedom of speech.
what is cyber bullying exactly?
if you have a problem with other peoples opinions them maybe you should just observe the internet instead of participating.
Don't like what someone is saying about you on your e-mail or text? The simple solution is don't read it, and move on to something else. Not newsworthy at all.