| 02/23/2005 |
| Bullying goes high-tech in cyberspace |
| By Jessica Matthews , Staff Writer |
First came the e-mails.
"Nobody likes you."
"You're ugly." Then, more hateful instant messages popped up on the computer screen all hours of the night. And last week, the Delaware Valley middle school student perpetrator turned to cell phone text messages to continue bullying the classmate she did not like. The incident reflects a growing trend: Bullies have moved from school grounds to cyberspace. Often cloaked in anonymity, these "cyberbullies" use Internet and communication technology to harass their victims. Their goals, however, do not differ much from traditional, schoolyard bullies. "They want to torment, intimidate, mock, frighten their victims," said Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists in Bethesda, Md. "The difference is the technology is making it easier." Just how widespread cyberbullying is remains unclear. There are few solid statistics about online harassment. One study, conducted by the University of New Hampshire in 2000, found that one in 17 youths has been threatened or harassed online. A 2002 study done in Great Britain by NCH, a children's charity, found one in four students had been bullied online. Kids who are shy are empowered by the technology, especially the anonymity surrounding it, Feinberg said. Many cyberbullies are former victims who use the technology to get back at their tormentors. Technology is also making online harassment more pervasive and the torment more vicious, said Nancy Willard, executive director of the Oregon-based Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use. "There is a social norm among kids that when they are online, they have free speech rights and can say anything they want about anyone else," she said. For the Delaware Valley student being cyberbullied by a classmate, the online harassment has escalated to ethnic slurs and threats. The newspaper is withholding the names of the students involved in the incident for safety reasons. "My mom wants to talk to my teacher about it, but I don't want her to," the student said. "I don't want it to get worse." Still, experts advise parents to bring cyberbullying incidents to the attention of school officials. "Cyberbullying has an impact on students during the school day, even if the online harassment happened off school premises," said Parry Aftab, executive director of WiredSafety.org, a nonprofit organization with experts on cyberbullying. "Parents should be contacting school officials, their Internet service providers, even the police." Internet service providers often have strict, zero-tolerance policies against online harassment, said Aftab, who is a lawyer. Lackawanna County Judge Terrence R. Nealon ruled last year that AOL Time Warner had to reveal the identities of its anonymous subscribers who were sending harassing and offensive e-mails and instant messages to a former Lackawanna County woman. Getting serious If the online harassment turns to threats of physical violence, criminal charges can be filed. A civil case could also be filed for defamation, invasion of personal privacy or intentional infliction of emotional distress. "Parents don't realize just how serious cyberbullying can be," Willard said. "It can depress kids or even cause them to commit suicide. That's right. Victims of cyberbullying are killing themselves." In 2003, a 13-year-old Vermont boy killed himself after being tormented for months by cyberbullies. He had threatened to commit suicide to get back at his harassers. Other cyberbullying incidents nationwide range from the creation of personal Web sites used to poke fun at victims to using camera phones to take photographs of students, altering the images then e-mailing them to entire student bodies. Weblogs, which are online journals, have been used to expose secrets about classmates. Locally, a dozen people contacted the Times-Shamrock newspapers in a published request seeking victims of cyberbullying. They ranged from victims harassed at work to school-aged students to young adults cyberbullied by ex-boyfriends. A 19-year-old Lackawanna County woman has been harassed online by her ex-boyfriend for more than a year. The newspaper is withholding her name for safety reasons. She had to change her cell phone number several times because he would send harassing and threatening text messages. She showed the newspaper copies of hundreds of e-mails and instant messages he sent. "I just want it to stop," she said. Finding solutions Local educational institutions are increasingly offering support and assistance for victims of cyberbullying. Research into the problem is growing, too. Dr. Lee Sebastiani, of Marywood University's School of Continuing Education, and graduate student Matt Spott recently surveyed 252 Luzerne County junior and senior high school students about Internet use. The results, which will be included in Dr. Sebastiani's book, "Building Character Online," found more than half of the students read something in a chatroom, instant message or e-mail that made them afraid or angry. "Parents are not keeping up with technology, and they're not paying attention to what their children are doing online," Dr. Sebastiani said. The university is planning to offer training classes for teachers and parents about online issues, she said. Many parents focus on protecting their children from online sexual predators and pornography yet are oblivious to their child's online world, Aftab said. Schools are in an awkward position, though, because they are not legally able to discipline students who are harassing classmates off school grounds. "We try to provide support if we become aware of it," said Ed Kairis, principal at Abington Heights Middle School. "We encourage parents to monitor what their kids are doing on computers at home." Charles Gahwiler, principal at South Scranton Intermediate School, said once or twice a year a parent will come in to discuss nasty e-mails or instant messages their child received at home. "The parents want me to discipline the other person, but we can't if it's something that happened at the home," he said. "We do try to get the two students to talk." To better combat cyberbullying, Aftab suggests schools give parents contracts to sign that allow school officials to discipline cyberbullies, even when the online harassment occurs off school premises. Several New York schools have such contracts, she said. She also created a program called Teenangels that gives students training in all aspects of online safety, privacy and security. The FBI and local law enforcement agencies partake in the training. Once trained, the students run programs in their schools to teach classmates, teachers and parents about safe online practices. "I'm looking to bring the program to Pennsylvania," she said. "There seems to be a need there (in Northeastern Pennsylvania) for it." Original URL - http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2259&dept_id=455154&newsid=14013982
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