NEA Today’s writer Cindy Long posted a fabulous article about Cyber Bullying. We were interviewed for the story and Adina’s Deck is one of the links. The story is below; and you can read the entire article here.
Silencing Cyberbullies
Digital sticks and stones can’t break bones—but they can hurt even more. What educators can do to curb bullying in cyberspace.
by Cindy Long
Ryan Halligan was bullied so relentlessly at school, he finally learned kickboxing to defend himself from the physical assaults. But when the attacks moved online, he had no way to fight back, and no refuge. Day and night, he received e-mails and instant messages from classmates ridiculing him and calling him a loser. When a pretty girl at school pretended to like him online but later revealed she was only joking, the taunting e-mails and instant messages increased, only with even more venom. A few weeks later, in October 2003, Ryan hanged himself in his family’s bathroom. He was 13 years old.
Now, Ryan’s father travels to schools around the country to share the events that led up to his son’s suicide and to warn educators and students about the dangers of cyberbullying. “Please don’t ever forget Ryan’s story,” he says, “or the fragility of adolescence.”
Cyberbullying is the use of electronic technology to deliberately harass or intimidate. Unlike the schoolyard bully of yesteryear, the cyberbully can hide behind online anonymity and attack around the clock, invading the privacy of a teen’s home. With young people spending most of their free time online or texting their friends, digital bullies not only have ready access to victims, but also an audience—because without witnesses, virtual bullying loses its punch.
According to Pew Research, about one third (32 percent) of all teenagers who use the Internet say they have been targets of some form of cyberbullying that ranged from receiving threatening messages and having their private e-mails or text messages forwarded to having an embarrassing picture posted or rumors about them spread online.
