Harmless Joke or Cyber-Bullying?

What is cyber-bullying? “Cyber-bullying was first coined and defined by the Canadian educator and anti-bullying activist Bill Belsey “As the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual group, that is intended to harm others”. Use of the internet, cell phones, or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. Is the use of the internet and related technologies to harm other people Deliberate Repeated Hostile manner

Different forms of Cyber-Bullying Sending mean messages or threats to a person's email account or cell phone Spreading rumors online or through texts Posting hurtful or threatening messages on social networking sites or web pages Stealing a person's account information to break into their account and send damaging messages Pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person Taking unflattering pictures of a person and spreading them through cell phones or the Internet Sexting, or circulating sexually suggestive pictures or messages about a person

Statistics 42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once. 35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 have had it happen more than once. 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages. 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once. 53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 have done it more than once. 58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.

Cyber-bullying Tips Tell a trusted adult about the bullying, and keep telling until the adult takes action. Don’t open or read messages by cyber bullies. Tell your school if it is school related. Schools have a bullying solution in place. Don’t erase the messages—they may be needed to take action. Protect yourself—never agree to meet with the person or with anyone you meet online. If bullied through chat or instant messaging, the “bully” can often be blocked. If you are threatened with harm, inform the local police.

At Cardinal Newman High School… SSA : Safe School Ambassador Program empowers leaders from the diverse groups and cliques on campus and equips them with nonviolent communication and intervention skills to stop bullying and violence among their peers. Implemented in 900 schools across 28 states and 2 Canadian provinces Serving students in grades 4-12 Over 60,000 students and 5,000 adults trained

How is SSA Effective? Carefully identifying and engaging the influential students – who shape the school’s norms – harnesses their power to improve the school’s climate. Students acquire skills they can use in the moment, with their friends, to defuse and deescalate potentially hurtful incidents. Key adults are trained to facilitate regular small-group meetings of Ambassadors which sharpen their skills, sustain their commitment, and increase their reporting of dangerous activities like planned fights or weapons on campus. Schools receive ongoing coaching and support – via phone, email, bulletins and web-based resources – to help address any implementation challenges and sustain the program.

Watch this video and think about what you would do….. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4EjrFPAbbY

BACK-UP INFO… 95% of social media-using teens who have witnessed cruel behavior on social networking sites say they have seen others ignoring the mean behavior; 55% witness this frequently. (Pew Internet Research Center, FOSI, Cable in the Classroom, 2011) 84% have seen the people defend the person being harassed; 27% report seeing this frequently. 84% have seen the people tell cyberbullies to stop bullying; 20% report seeing this frequently. 66% of teens who have witnessed online cruelty have also witnessed others joining; 21% say they have also joined in the harassment. (Pew Internet Research Center, FOSI, Cable in the Classroom, 2011) 90% of social media-using teens who have witnessed online cruelty say they have ignored mean behavior on social media; 35% have done this frequently. (Pew Internet Research Center, FOSI, Cable in the Classroom, 2011) 80% say they have defended the victim; 25% have done so frequently 79% have told the cyberbully to stop being mean and cruel; 20% have done so frequently Only 7% of U.S. parents are worried about cyberbullying, even though 33% of teenagers have been victims of cyberbullying (Pew Internet and American Life Survey, 2011) 85% of parent of youth ages 13-17 report their child has a social networking account. (American Osteopathic Association, 2011) 52% of parents are worried their child will be bullied via social networking sites. (American Osteopathic Association, 2011) 1 in 6 parents know their child has been bullied via a social networking site. (American Osteopathic Association, 2011) One million children were harassed, threatend or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying on Facebook during the past year. (Consumer Reports, 2011) 43% of teens aged 13 to 17 report that they have experienced some sort of cyberbulying in the past year.[1] More girls are cyberbullys than boys (59% girls and 41% boys).[2 Cyberbullies spend more time online than other teens overall (38.4 hours compared to 26.8 hours).[3] Cyberbullies are more likely to have engaged in sexting (31% vs. 19% for teens overall).[4] 34% of those who have had any engagement in cyberbullying have been both a cyberbully and been cyberbullied.[5] 68% of teens agree that cyberbullying is a serious problem with today’s youth.[6]Reasons cyberbullies said they engaged in cyberbullying:[7] oTo show off to friends (11%) o To be mean (14%) o Something else (16%) o To embarrass them (21%) o For fun or entertainment (28%) o They deserved it (58%) o To get back at someone (58%) 81% of youth agree that bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person.[8] 80% think it is easier to hide online bullying from parents than in-person bullying.[9]