I have been checking out the latest news on a case involving a 13 year old girl named Megan Meier, who committed suicide after reading a message on MySpace. A 49 year old woman by the name of Lori Drew sent her a message that entailed, "the world would be better off without you." Lori bullied Megan Meier sending her cruel messages by using a false identity. I presume that Megan had no idea that the person sending her the email was actually a 49 year old woman. Lori Drew is the mother of Megan's former friend. At the time of this incident Megan was being treated for depression.
On November 10, 2008, a US District Judge announced that he may exclude the evidence of Megan's suicide from the case. Lori is being accused of cyber-bullying but the government is prosecuting Lori under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is used to prosecute hackers and those who commit high-tech crimes. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was passed by the United States Congress in 1986 and amended in 1994, 1996, and 2001 by the USA Patriot Act. Lori's attorney argues that cyber-bullying is not a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Children are not the only victims of cyber-bullying. Teachers are victims as well. There is a website, RateMyTeachers.com where students can rate their teachers ability using a anonymous profile. A teacher by the name of Mr. Brown accessed the website and was surprised by what he found. RateMyTeachers.com was not excited about being connected to cyber-bullying. They claim that the sole purpose of the site is to show "who is connected with their students and who really doesn't care." That was not a good argument for me. Teachers are accessing the site and left in tears after reading the content. The site argues that the students are strictly commenting on their teachers ability to educate. Who would ever put that responsibility in the hands of a student? A student may not like a teacher because he or she has red hair or wears "high-water" jeans.
What is cyber-bullying? "Cyber-bullying is when a person is threatened, embarrassed, tormented, humiliated, or harassed by another person using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones". A cyber-bully does not have a specific profile. There is story about a teenage boy, who is an honor student. He does not cause his parents any trouble and he is very polite. He shared that when he accessed the Internet he sent death threats via email. He thought it might be cool to act his fantasies out online.
There are several websites for children, parents and educators to access for information on this issue. Sites such as STOP cyberbullying (offers vital information for teachers, parents and children), Cyberbully.org (offers resources for educators), Cyberbullying.info (offers an interactive information site for everyone), and WiredSafety.org (helps victims of cyber-bullying find their stalkers and prosecute them.)
Consequences of cyber-bullying: On Techdirect.com there is an article discussing a recent decision that details the reason Canadian teachers want cyber-bullying to be a criminal offense. According to the Christian Science Monitor (I encourage you to visit this site, and browse the article. It is truly informative), teachers are striking back on online pranks. Teenagers are paying the price for their actions through criminal arrests. Some argue that this is unnecessary and going too far. What do you think? Should cyber-bullying be dismissed as a simple act of playfulness or have students gone too far? One-third of American teens regularly post unsuitable language and manipulated images on the web. Twenty-six percent of teachers and principals are targeted. Forty-five states have cyber-stalking laws and 11 states prohibit cyber-bullying. In 2006, 80 percent of students reported cyber-bullying. Will these laws stop students from participating in cyber-bullying? I don't think so. Many people do not obey the laws that exist today. On the Christian Science Monitor site there is a article that shares a story about a parent who videotaped a teachers bottom, uploaded it on the internet and even titled the video "Hot for Teacher." As an educator, how might you respond to cyber-bullying if you happen to be the victim?
3 comments:
Hey Farolyn,
I just read your comment on my blog to my final project proposal. Thanks for the encouragement. It's also nice to know someone else is still up at this ridiculous hour of 3:30 am doing school stuff. YAY school! Right?
Anyways I am kinda not all here with myself right now. It is amazing that you have all sorts of wonderful ideas at this wee hour of the night/morning, whatever this is. I really like your ideas that you posted in the comment to my blog, none of which had even occured to me. I would like to think I would have had those ideas myself given enough time but probably not.
Anyways, at this hour, this is about the extent of my comment. I haven't actually read the above post but from the pictures it looks interesting and I will def read it when I am more alive. Back to my take home psyc test now.
OK comment # 2. THis time I read the above post and that is what I am commenting on. My reaction ? OMG what in the world !?!?
Its so weird I never realized, or never really thought about what a HUGE impact digital media and especially the internet has on our lives. It is a great, amazing tool but with it comes SOOOO much responsibility. And its hard to regulate and know what is going on, and I have never been a parent so I realize this is easy for me say (and probably a lot harder for parents to do) but I think it is largely the parents responsibility to make sure things like cyber bullying are not going on.
We have 2 small kids in my house hold, one 11 and one 6. The 11 year old I am not worried about, he is not the type of person to be any sort of bully (he might get bullied though). But the 6 year old. . . ? THats another story.
There is some game that they both like to play (http://www.clubpenguin.com/) called Club Penguin. And I know that already one time my nephew got kicked out of the game and his membership was revoked cause he said something inappropiate or mean and another player reported him. I actually don't know the details because I wasn't the one to deal with and discipline him about it but I would not be surprised if he was bullying somebody on there. He's my nephew and I love him but he's a punk.
Ultimately I think parents need to be better patrols of what their kids are seeing and doing on the internet. You wouldn't let them go unsupervised on the playground right ? Don't let them go unsupervised in the digital realm either. I realize this is hard to do, its not like someone can sit by my nephew all day as he plays Club Penquin but I was sad to see that his wrongdoing went without much discipline from his mother and his other aunt got him back onto Club Penguin. I just hope he learned his lesson.
It's sad that the first story you talk about in your blog regarding the teenage girl's suicide was because of an adult bully! What the heck! Does this woman have nothing better to do?
I've always thought that words and the things we say to people can be so powerful, it can lift you up or bring you way down, there is much power in words. We should think about that before we bully someone with words. . . . how would I feel to receive a message like that? And perhaps publicly on my Facebook wall where everyone can see?
In a way this whole issue just makes me take a deep breath, such a big and important issue when people are dying needlessly. But then how do we make it better? The only thing I can think of is to 1) watch your kids and 2) don't say things that you wouldn't want to hear.
It also makes me think of something else. I am very sarcastic and I admit I have said some things that are not very nice. I am just joking around and usually people who know me know my humor and don't think much of it. However, those same people might get a sarcatic comment from me on their Facebook wall. Without the tone of voice there it can seem like I am being insulting and mean, even to my good friends who know me well. I realized this and I think twice before I post certain comments now.
Hi Farolyn-
I was unpleasantly surprised to see your post today. Not because it's boring or anything, but because I'm sorry that the situation exists. I actually just finished a post on a UK couple that married and recently filed for divorce because of the couple's Second Life avatars' behavior.
Simply put, a woman who met her husband in Second Life, has filed for divorced after finding evidence of his cyber physical and emotional affairs in the same online game. It sounds ridiculous to me, but the quotations and sentiments of the abused party (or parties, meaning the real life woman and her corresponding avatar?) reveal that she has been very hurt by her hubby's avatar's actions.
You and I are emotionally invested in the real world, and it seems we can't imagine being equally invested in a virtual one. Just because we can't identify or understand virtual bullying or betrayal doesn't mean it's not devastating to the victims, as evidenced by both of our blog subjects this week. These poor women.
This all makes me curious; why did you and I write about virtual heartbreak the same week? Is it coincidence? Is the frequency of these tragic events noticeably increasing? Is it just the real life world's awareness that's increasing?
My sympathies go out to all victims, whether their pain is internet-sponsored or not.
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