By Lisa Cappelloni | Posted October 26 2010
Guest blogger Lisa Cappelloni is a freelance writer who writes largely about health, food and travel.
The story of Tyler Clementi, 18, starkly illustrates the dark side of social media in kids’ lives. The Rutgers University freshman left a farewell message on Facebook moments before leaping to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd of this year. Clementi was distraught after discovering that his roommate and another student secretly filmed him during a sexual encounter and live-streamed it on the Internet. This distressing case has sparked calls for new age methods to prevent online harassment and an increased focus on anti-cyberbullying outreach.
Studies show that as many as 43 percent of kids will experience bullying on the Internet or over mobile devices. In September, the National Institutes of Health reported that about 14% of students experienced electronic aggression in the previous two months, ranging from malicious rumors, password violations and site hacking to photo manipulations forwarded to classmates.
The problem will continue to grow as technology changes, reports Parry Aftab, a lawyer specializing in internet privacy and security who is devoted to battle online harassment aggression. Because today’s youth is so actively embedded in the digital sphere, efforts to combat online aggression span far beyond traditional classroom education. Aimed at reaching as great an audience as possible, The National Crime Prevention Council announced its national cyberbullying campaign, partnered by Sony Creative Software and the Ad Council.
Just last year, MTV launched A Thin Line, an initiative devoted to the prevention of online abuse through the empowerment of young people. Stephen Friedman of MTV explained on the station’s news channel the innovative approach of A Thin Line: “Our audience lives online, and while every generation deals with their own set of abuse issues, the digital sphere exponentially increases opportunities for misuse. There is a very thin line between private and public, this moment and forever, love and abuse, and words and wounds. A Thin Line is built to empower our audience to draw their own line between digital use and digital abuse.”
Additional online communities including ever-popular Facebook and Myspace continue to remain educational and supportive places for youth to discuss, educate and fight digital harassment. Dozens of other organizations, support groups and programs have been established to counter the prevalence of online harassment and to provide a safe haven for victims. One such organization is The Cyberbullying Research Center, founded by two criminologists who have extensively researched cyberbullying and created the center to address and update as many people as they can about the impact of online aggression.
CONNECT THE DOTS
Schools can download a free anti-bullying training kit at wiredsafety.org beginning in late October. Among the best sites to educate kids about cyberbullying is the Girl Scouts. Look into starting Teen Angel and Tween Angel programs at your schools where kids learn over a two-year period to train their peers about cyberbullying. For more information, the CDC has a report on electronic aggression and violence prevention.
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