Bill in NY Would Make Cyberbullying Manslaughter

October 18, 2011 Leave a Comment

Anyone, regardless of age or gender, can be a victim of cyberbullying. And no one is immune from its harmful effects. Decreased school performance, depression and anxiety, and even suicide can be the tragic result of a tween or teen who is pushed over the line by bullying. A new bill in New York attempts to make cyberbullies more accountable for their actions, especially when they end tragically.

Under the bill proposed in New York, the definition of second degree manslaughter would be expanded to include “bullycide” – online bullying that prompts the victim to ultimately take his or her own life. The bill would also expancd third degree stalking to include cyberbullying, as well.

However, there might be some problems with implementing the new bill if it were to become law. Most suicides – including those that are precipitated by cyberbullying – are a combination of many factors. Punishing cyberbullies for the suicide does not take into account the other issues going on at school, at home, or in a child’s personal life that may have also prompted the suicide.

Problems – How much bullying is punishable? How can someone else be held accountable for a suicide?

Conclusion – Parents agree that cyberbullying is a problem but disagree about what to do about it – is it the parent’s responsibility? The child’s? The teacher’s/school’s? The legislator’s?

Regardless of where you come down on this, I think we can all agree that cyberbullying is a problem that needs all of our attention. What do you think of this proposed bill?

Filed under Cyberbullying, Legal Tagged with ,

Cyberbullying, Sexting, and Fighting: What Is the School’s Responsibility?

August 26, 2011 1 Comment

Legislators often demand that schools take more responsibility for students who engage in cyberbullying, sexting, or posting fight videos on the Internet – even when it doesn’t happen in school or during school hours. One major question many parents are asking themselves is: can a school possibly police their students’ online lives? And even if they can, should they?

Actually, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that schools can discipline their students for activities that occur on their own time away from campus, as long as the activities are “disruptive” or “dangerous” to the school or student body. So if a student’s online conduct poses a threat to the school or other students (a subjective judgement), they can be punished.

What about the first question? Do schools even have the capability to monitor their student’s digital citizenship? Teachers and school administrators are often overworked and overburdened as it is, unable to find the time (or the money) to comb the Internet to keep tabs on their students. How is any single entity expected to keep an eye on something as vast as the Internet, in addition to its regular 9-to-5 job of educating our children?

Australian independent schools have recently made headlines by using an online intelligence company to help them monitor their students’ public posts on Facebook, admitting that they can’t keep up with it all on their own. Some view the activity as a waste of taxpayer money, while others are outraged at the perceived invasion of privacy.

Opinions on these questions range all across the board, but what is certain is that schools cannot replace responsible parenting. Digital citizenship classes, school cyberbullying policies, and sexting legislation will never have the same impact that a one-on-one parent-child conversation does. Schools should play a supporting role, not a leading one, in monitoring and combating dangerous online behavior. Besides, even if schools really could effectively do it, wouldn’t you really rather be a part of your teen’s digital world?

post originally appeared on uKnowKids

Filed under Cyberbullying, Legal, Rant, Sexting Tagged with , , , , ,

Kids Cyberbullying Teachers: Facebook Hate Groups and More

February 3, 2011 1 Comment

This post originally appeared on www.kidsafe.me.

If you think that only kids that are the victim of cyberbullying, think again. Teachers can also become the targets of cyberbullying by their own students. In particular, Facebook hate groups aimed at a particular teacher are increasingly common.

In 2007, a Florida high schooler was suspended for creating a Facebook group called “Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I’ve ever met!” She sued the school, claiming that creating the group was within her legal free speech rights. She won.

It may be legal, but it’s not nice – and it’s not smart, either.

Kids need to understand that what they type doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Whatever they put online can be seen by anybody – including the person they are ridiculing. Not only can it be devastating to the victim, but it reflects really poorly on the perpetrator, too.

When a college admissions officer or future potential employer Googles your child’s name and finds profanity-ridden personal attacks they wrote, how will that shape their impression of your child’s overall character?

With all its conveniences and opportunities, the Internet has let our kids down in the sense that it’s given them a false sense of reality.

When a child is out in the real world, he can’t publicly defame his boss and expect no consequences to come from it. Whether it’s just a tenser work atmosphere or something as serious as getting fired, the consequence will come.

Kids need to learn that lesson now, before they get out in the real world and have to figure it out on their own.

Parents, teach your kids to be nice online. Some teachers are incompetent, nerdy, or just plain mean. But in life you’ve got to learn to get along with all kinds of people – and that doesn’t include creating a Facebook group dedicated to ripping them to shreds.

by Jenny Evans

Filed under Cyberbullying, Facebook, Legal Tagged with , ,

Teens Posting Videos of Real Fights Online

December 21, 2010 Leave a Comment

This post originally appeared on www.kidsafe.me.

Now that most kids carry their video-enabled cell phones around everywhere with them, everybody is a cameraman. This can be a good thing – we’ve all heard stories about a thief who was caught because a bystander just happened to catch the robbery on his cell phone. But it can also be a source for trouble when fight videos start getting posted online.

Clips of two teens punching, kicking, and pulling each others’ hair are surprisingly easy to find online, most of them posted by other kids who stood by and recorded the fight on their cell phones.

Why do they post these videos? They may have a grudge against somebody in the fight. Or, more commonly, they just want to get their 15 minutes of fame for posting an exclusive video. Sad but true, kids feel important by association if they can show the world something interesting that they were privy to – even a fist fight.

Video sharing sites like YouTube usually have prohibitions against pornographic material or nudity, but not against videos featuring fights between tweens or teens. Even if the videos are ultimately taken down, they can still receive hundreds (or thousands) of views before being flagged.

Of course, teens fighting to solve a problem isn’t new. In my youth, one kid would tell another “I’ll see you in the parking lot after school,” word would spread, and by the end of the day a crowd of maybe ten kids would witness the fight (if both parties even showed up), and that would be it. But when the fight goes viral and people can watch and re-watch the video online, it becomes that much more humiliating for the loser and that much more empowering for the winner.

Talk to your kids about sensitivity. Don’t ever post a video that embarrasses someone. Fight videos just encourage more fights, so teach your child – and teach them early – not to post or watch this kind of material online.

Filed under Cyberbullying, Legal, Social Networking Tagged with , ,

Parenting Digital Kids is About to Get Easier

February 1, 2010 4 Comments

Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

Today’s children represent the first generation to grow up entirely in a digital world. They have spent their entire lives using computers, video games, webcams, digital music players, mobile phones, instant messaging services and everything else the digital world has to offer.

Our kids are all “native speakers” of a digital language.  They are Digital Natives.

So what does that make this generation of parents?  Those of us who were not born into a digital world are, and always will be, Digital Immigrants. As immigrants, we are now in the process of learning a new language.  This makes parenting today more challenging than ever before.  After all, how often does the immigrant have the responsibility to teach the native how to stay safe and responsible in the native’s own land?

One thing that never changes is that kids are just as naive and reckless about risks as they have always been and they need parents to provide guidance and oversight.  Did you know:

  • More than 70% of teens talk to strangers online
  • More than 60% of teens have been asked to meet face-to-face by a stranger they met online
  • 1 in 7 kids are sexually solicited online every year
  • 1 in 3 kids are bullied online or with a mobile phone
  • 20% of teens admit to electronically sharing a nude photo of themselves with a friend or stranger
  • 40% of teens say they have had an uncomfortable situation online but never told an adult
  • And almost 50% of teens say their parents would not approve if their parents knew what they were really doing online and with their mobile phone.

Today’s parent is facing a unique set of parenting challenges.  A complete lack of transparency into what is going on in the Digital Natives’ land makes it near impossible to set and manage limits, instill self-discipline and personal responsibility and to help our children maintain balance.  That’s why I’m so excited about what we are doing at KidSafe.

KidSafe Makes Parenting A Little Easier

KidSafe is like a translator of the Digital Natives’ language, a GPS unit of their land and the phone bill that parents wish they had.  Like the technology that our kids are using to gain instant access to everything, KidSafe provides real-time visibility into your kid’s digital world.  Our goal has been to develop a simple to use technology that makes parenting in a digital world easier for a change.  We want and need your feedback however. Please visit www.kidsafe.me and request an invitation to participate in our private beta.

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Tim Woda is a passionate advocate for protecting children from today’s scariest digital dangers – cyberbullying, sexting and predators. He co-founded KidSafe, is the author of Keeping Kids Safe: A Guide for Parents of Social and Mobile Children and is a frequent public speaker on the topic.

Copyright © 2009 Tim Woda

Filed under Cyberbullying, General, Mobile, Social Networking, Start-up, Text Messaging Tagged with , ,

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