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"If you are a victim of bullying, please tell someone!"

"We need the children to know how serious this is, that it is not fun and games. Bullying can be as dangerous as a gun, or a drunk driver. "

-Shauna Kasey

NEWS FLASH

April 15, 2008

KENTUCKY becomes the 35th state to pass an anti bullying law!

Read the new law rated A++ by BullyPolice.org

Does your state have bullying legislation?

BullyPolice.org is a watch-dog organization advocating for bullied children and reporting on state anti-bullying laws.

From Kentucky Attorney General's Office...

How do the Constitutional First Admendent rights apply to students in regards to cyberbullying?

Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet

Faces of
Cyberbullycide


Rachael Neblett

Rachael was stalked online by anonymous bully. She died by suicide on October 9, 2006.
View a tribute to Rachael


Ryan Halligan

Interview with John Halligan who's 13-year old son, Ryan, died by suicide as a result of bullying at school and online.


Jeffrey's mother Debbie Johnston writes, "With the keyboard as his weapon, the bully violated the sanctity of my home and murdered my child just as surely as if he had crawled through a broken window and choked the life from Jeff with his bare hands. It was not a death that was quick and merciful. It was carried out with lies, rumors and calculated cruelty portioned out day by day.”

Read Bullycide in America: Moms speak out about the bully/suicide connection


Megan Meier

A cruel online hoax by a neighbor led to suicide death of Megan. Read her story

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found signs of an apparent connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide in children, according to a new review of studies from 13 countries.

Almost all of the studies found connections between being bullied and suicidal thoughts among children. Five reported that bullying victims were two to nine times more likely to report suicidal thoughts than other children were.

Not just the victims were in danger: "The perpetrators who are the bullies also have an increased risk for suicidal behaviors."

Science Daily, July 19, 2008

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is the sending or posting of harmful or cruel text or images using the Internet or other digital communication devices such as:

  • E-mail
  • Instant Messaging (IM)
  • Text messages or digital images sent on mobile phones
  • Social networking sites, web pages, blogs, virtual worlds
  • Chat rooms or discussion groups
  • Interactive game sites
Cyberbullying can be conducted 24 hours a day, seven days a week making the victim a perpetual target. The harassment can be anonymous and a single message posted online or sent to a mobile phone can spread to a wide audience. Hurtful or embarrassing messages or images can remain online indefinitely to damage the child's social life and friendships, and possibly their reputation.

The term "cyberbullying" is used when the victim or bully is a child or teen. The term cyber harassment is used when the victim is an adult. 

Common Cyberbullying Tactics

  • Stealing someone’s online name and using it to write nasty rumors, comment, or spread gossip.
  • Altering someone’s message or doctoring photographs to say something different or poke fun at a person.
  • Secretly recording conversations using a cell phone, then playing the recording back for the person being discussed.
  • Posting damaging information on blogs or web sites.
  • Creating or taking part in Internet polling.
Source: ABC PrimeTime “What Parents Need to Know About Cyberbullying”

Dealing with Cyberbullying

Teach children to:
  • Stop 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 cyberbully only escalates the problem, and in turn, the victim becomes part of the problem.
  • Block Block the cyberbully 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 Tell a trusted adult. The messages posted by the cyberbully 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 cyberbullying experience with you.

Source: WiredKids.org

If your child is bullied online:

  • Do not erase the evidence
  • Contact your Internet provider, the social networking site, or cell phone company and file a complaint
  • Contact the child’s school if the bullying is school-related
  • Contact local law enforcement if your child has been threatened or if a crime has been committed.
  • Report cyberbullying to the CyberTipline. 

If the cyberbully makes statements which place the victim in reasonable fear for his or her physical safety or if the cyberbully continues to threaten or harass the victim, despite warnings, notify law enforcement.

A cyberbully can be traced. Each time the Internet is accessed, an IP (Internet Protocol) address, a type of electronic fingerprint, is established. This IP address can be used by the authorities to trace all electronic communications between computers and/or mobile phones.

Postings in cyberspace are traceable, downloadable, printable, and sometimes punishable by law.

Kentucky has passed new legislation to make Cyberstalking a crime!

House Bill 315, which was signed into law March 2009 helps protect children from internet predators and amends Kentucky's stalking statute to include cyberstalking.

Kentucky passed the Bully Bill (HB91) April 15 2008. The law went into effect July 1, 2008. Among other requirements, this law requires school officials to contact law enforcement if a student has been the victim of a violation of a felony specified in KRS Chapter 508 which was committed by another student while on school premises, on school-sponsored transportation, or at a school-sponsored event.

Cyperbullying Statistics

  • Four in ten teens (43%) have experienced online harassment.
    Girls are twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators, usually through email or a social networking sites, where they typically engage in social sabotage. Cyberbullying is most prevalent among 15 and 16 year olds.
  • Teens who share their identities and thoughts on social networking sites, such as MySpace and FaceBook, are more likely to be targets than are those who do not use social networking sites (39% have been cyberbullied in someway, compared with 22% of online teens who do not use social networks).
National phone survey of 935 teenagers by Pew Internet and American Life, November 2006

Here are some additional cyberbullying statistics from iSafe.

  • 22% of students know someone who has been bullied online.
  • 19% of students admit to saying something hurtful to others online.
  • 12% of students have personally become upset by strangers online.
  • 90% of middle school students have had their feelings hurt online.
  • 75% have visited a web site bashing another student
  • 40% have had their password(s) stolen and changed by a bully

Only 15% of parents polled knew what cyberbullying was!

Data based on 2005-06 iSafe survey of 13,000 students in grades 5 to 12. 

Consequences of Cyberbullying

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

When these negative emotions aren’t dealt with properly, victims may resort to deliquency 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
  • Cyberbullying has led to at least 4 cases of suicide in the United States and many more abroad. Suicide related to cyberbullying is called “cyberbullycide”
Aseltine,Gore, & Gordon, 2000; Cowie & Berdondini, 2002; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2007

Why Do Kids Cyberbully?

New studies published in the book, "Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard" by Hinduja and Patchin, charts the following reasons why youth bully online:

  • 22% motivated by revenge
  • 18.7% said the victim deserved it
  • 10.6 % said they did it for fun
  • 3.9% hated the victim
  • 3.5% pressured by peers
  • 2.8% retaliated against a bully
  • 2.5% venting anger
  • 5.7% other reasons

According to the 2007 Executive Research Summary "Teens and Cyberbullying" produced by the National Crime Prevention Council, when teens were asked why they were cyberbullied, they responded

  • They think it’s funny (81%)
  • They don’t think it’s a big deal
  • They don’t think about the consequences
  • They are encouraged by friends
  • They think everybody cyberbullies
  • They think they won’t get caught
    Read more>>

The video below was created by a middle school student, Patrick Kohlmann, to present to the PTA and the faculty of the school. The principal said it was "TOO GRAPHIC," so instead, Patrick decided share the video with others online. The message -- "Help make a difference by standing up and speaking out about school violence. " Note: Victims portrayed in this video are not students at Patrick's school.

Visit WiredSafety.org for more detailed information about cyberbullying and cyberstalking.

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