Journal #5

“How to Fight the New Bullies”
By Rosalind Wiseman

This article talks about the issues and threats that students deal with online. With the wide array of communication through the internet also comes new problems, and for teens, the issue is rising dramatically. Since sites such as mySpace, You Tube, and Facebook, children all too often deal with being bullied online. While IMing, or text messaging, students feel invincible. They are not dealing with anyone face to face, and can even be anonymous, while at the same time are able to pass it around faster than word of mouth. This causes students to say things that they would never confront someone with. The person who is threatening others doesn’t have to worry about what the other person thinks, or how anyone reacts to the comment, so sometimes the bully doesn’t even know they are wrong.

What is a cyberbully?
A cyberbully is someone who uses email, instant messaging, cell phones, text messages, photos, and videos in order to humiliate and threaten others. Cyberbullying can be very damaging because it is a vicious circle between students. Once a rumor is spread and gets started, who know where it has gone, and who else has sent it anywhere.

What can parents do to help stop cyberbullying?
Parents should establish rules and consequences with their children when it comes to technology and keep the computer in a family room, not a child’s bedroom so the information is not private. Teach children to establish passwords and not to share them and also keep a filtering system on the computer. Monitor what your child is doing on the computer and while not “spying” or “overreacting”, know what they are getting into and what they are interested in.