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:Lines need to br drawn.

[drinkypoo]

But the same time there needs to be a strong long drawn; otherwise we'll end up with a generation of people emotionally/psychologically weak.

Violence begets violence.

By the same token, bullying begets bullying.

Surely, if you want to make men of boys, there must be better ways than bullying, which mostly teaches the lesson that you don't need to think for yourself if you join a pack of dumbfucks.

Re:Lines need to br drawn.

[endianx]

By the same token, bullying begets bullying.

No it really does not, except in extreme examples like Columbine. Most people who are bullied get over it and become productive members of society, as do the people who formerly bullied. My own personal experience with being bullied in school didn't make me want to do it to other people, but rather taught me why I should not. It also made me much tougher and better equipped to deal with the real world, where you can't be emotionally shielded all the time.

ANother step

[geekoid]

Eventually, nobody will believe anything about anybody on the interwebtubetruck

Then it will hole no emotional effect on the people of that generation.

Re:Lines need to br drawn.

[jshriverWVU]

My point exactly. Take a kid in rural china living on 1/2 cup of rice a day, bare foot, diseased what he considers a bad day. I see kids now who will throw a complete fit because someone looked at them funny, they couldn't stay 5 minutes somewhere, couldn't get that game 2 hours earlier, couldn't see the exact movie they wanted.

It's already starting unfortunately. There has to be a healthy way for kids to grow up and have a thicker skin. There's a big difference between someone physically beating you down and "But mom some kid in my class posted on MySpace that I'm a moron, sue him mommy so I can get a PS3 else I'm going to scream my head off for hours.".

Normally, I wouldn't care.

[Short Circuit]

I learned how to ignore bullies back in high school. But that's in meatspace, where everything is ephemeral. In online forums, comments and rumors about me are all but permanent, and available for any potential employer (or private investigator) to see.

I wonder if/when libel laws will be applied to moronic posts made to Myspace, Facebook and the plethora of phpBB boards out there.

this is new how?

[Anonymous Coward]

The only real difference I can see between "cyberbullying" and traditional childish behavior is that now we can have a persistent record of how much of a jerk your precious little child can be when you aren't looking.

Re:Nothing new

[vigmeister]

Voluntary exposure of intimate details is not very smart if you are worried about certain pictures/facts leaking. Rumors are just that and if they affect you in any way, you can always sue. The legal system kicks in when it gets serious, but before that, it is just a friendly reminder of the ways of the internet. What would you rather have? Some kid getting 'aggressive emails' or regulation of expression on the internet?

If it is serious, go to the authorities. If it is not, don't whine.

Cheers!

Re:Lines need to br drawn.

[linguizic]

"But mom some kid in my class posted on MySpace that I'm a moron, sue him mommy so I can get a PS3 else I'm going to scream my head off for hours.".

I have two children of my own, and I know many children in my community and none of them would say something like that. From what I've found, my children's generation is more sensitive than mine, but they are not whiny little brats. In fact, they are more sensitive to the feelings of others and have more respect for each other as a result. Sure there are some really mean SOB's here and there, but not like when I was a child. It might just be the difference of where I'm living now vs. where I grew up, but I am looking forward to my children's generation coming of age and taking over.

Re:Lines need to br drawn.

[drinkypoo]

My own personal experience with being bullied in school didn't make me want to do it to other people, but rather taught me why I should not.

My own personal experience with being bullied in school made me bitter and hateful, with a tendency to lash out both physically and emotionally.

During this time period I did basically two things which gained the respect of my peers - for a moment, anyway. The first time was the first time I got into a real fight with someone determined to beat me up. He was another unpopular kid. He ended up with two black eyes and a bloody dot on his forehead. I ended up with an expulsion.

The second time, a bunch of people had been fucking with me on the city bus, going to school. One kid added one last straw, and I got up and popped him one upside the head. (Then the bus driver hit the brakes and I bounced off a pole, but wasn't damaged - just dazed. But that made two of us.)

Sure, I'm only one individual. But what I'm trying to say is that being bullied might have given me some perspective on some things, but it also made me unpredictable and dangerous. It did not make me a "real man" - I was still a pussy until I was maybe 23, 24. It wasn't until just the last few years that I grew sufficient cojones to stand up for myself in a work situation, and stopped being taken advantage of there.

Bullying is not a good thing. And the failure of most people (including yourself) to imagine that there might be a superior alternative is frankly pathetic. You are helping to maintain the culture of violence, and that is simply a bad thing.

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

[fredNonesuch]

Read the wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-bullying/ [wikipedia.org] for some answers as to why this is a big deal. The "cyber" part is a tool that offers a great deal of leverage with the ability to automate bullying and propagate media that has far more emotional impact than words alone.

Spreading rumors with freely available picture editing software is especially pernicious. On top of that, there's the automation - making the spreading of the material so much more effective. Instead of just a handful of people personally contacted, an audience of hundreds on up end up seeing it. That also heavily increases the emotional impact.

Consider a similar scenario -collateral damage due to spamming. Some of you have seen your outgoing emails banned because of spammers falsely using your address or even simply using the same ISP. The same sort of knee-jerk reactions happen as a result of cyber-bullying.

Finally, there are a lot of ADULT idiots out there that act based solely on unconfirmed information. Lynchings in the US still happen - just more often in court and in job losses. The impact can be in the form of real losses, not just emotional hurt. Now imagine how kids can respond.

Re:Lines need to br drawn.

[Original Replica]

Speaking of kids that need some realism injected into their lives:

A child's tantrum onboard a Delta commuter flight forced a pilot to make an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport. The forced landing was caused by a fight over apple juice. A 4-year-old wanted apple juice and when the stewardess didn't get it quick enough, the child threw a tantrum, NBC 10 reported.http://www.nbc10.com/news/13575254/detail .html?dl=headlineclick [nbc10.com]

While bullying and insulting frequently go to far, that is the way many children learn the social norm. And before everyone get all righteous about not needing to conform, let me just say bullshit. You have to understand the social norm before you walk you own path and not create unintended repercussions (ie only child syndrome). Parents allowing their kids to do things and act in ways that they would never accept outside of the parent/child relationship are just asking for that kid to be ostrisized when they get out into the world.

Tactics include being the victim?

[The Monster]

But mom some kid in my class posted on MySpace that I'm a moron, sue him mommy

The most pernicious aspect of this is that the people with the thinnest skins get to define "bullying", while they may do objectively worse things to the "bullies".

Maybe that explains this curious wording:

Tactics cited include being 'the victim of an aggressive email, IM or text message' and 'having a rumor spread about them online'.

I've seen people complain in an online forum that someone's objections to an ideology constituted a personal attack against its adherents, then turn around and declare "open season" on those who espouse the alleged bully's competing ideology.

Then they pat each other on the back for being so much more civil than the 'troll' they've just dispatched.

Re:I don't think so

[Original Replica]

My school bully is also in jail for at least one violent crime. "Malicious Wounding" I believe. In regard to the GGGP I think that you would find that out of the school bully demographic you get the most politicians, slimeball high power execs, and violent criminals. In short all people who are willing to abuse other people to achieve their ends. They just utililize different forms of power over others.