Cyberbullying Gains Momentum in US

interglossa writes "Findings from the Pew Internet Project are being reported on the BBC news web site, indicating a rising incidence of cyberbullying among teenagers in the United States. The study showed a slightly higher incidence among those visiting social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Tactics cited include being 'the victim of an aggressive email, IM or text message' and 'having a rumor spread about them online'. While the concept of cyberbully has been around in the US for a while, most coverage of the issue has focused on more extreme examples abroad. It would seem young people in the US are fully adapting to the anonymity of online interactions."

Re:Why the hell is this such a big deal?

[moeinvt]

If it's just people calling each other names online from long distances, you're right, what's the big deal? I'd suggest that it gets "BAD" when we're talking about KIDS, and when the "cyber bullying" is combined with ritualistic verbal and physical abuse. Check out this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Patrick_Halligan [wikipedia.org]

There may be "laws" in place to deal with "death threats", but I think that bullying is a serious problem that has been largely ignored in the nation's schools. Would you suggest that a 11-year old is a "pussy" and needs to grow some "thick skin" because a bunch of much older kids decide to bully him/her systematically over months or years? In a case like that, the cyber aspect of it is just "piling on" to an existing problem, and it could be the thing that pushes someone over the edge.