Bullying Often Made Easier Via Social Media

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Many of those deaths are due to bullying and the highest risk for suicides caused by bullying is girls, 10-14 years-old but boys, too, fall victim to bully tactics. This is sad. Two girls, 12 and 14, recently were arrested in Florida after bullying another girl, Rebecca Sedwick, 12. The news of this suicide has been on cable and network news channels. It’s another story that could have ended differently, but didn’t.

Apparently it started over a boy Rebecca liked and so did one of the other girls who did the bullying, according to news reports. One of those things many of us go through as pre-teen and teenagers but most of the time we all moved on and tragedies like this rarely happened — until social networking gave angry young people an immediate outlet.

Even sadder, these girls are too young to have a serious boyfriend or to even be dating in a significant way.

Whether kids have become more mean- spir- ited or not it’s hard to say but it certainly seems like it, especially when stories like the one in Florida hit all the news outlets. One thing that continues to stand out is that bullying seems to be made easier because of today’s technology — in particular texting, tweets and Facebook messages.

Rosalind Wiseman, a Washington, D.C., author of two books on teen bullying, said kids have been bullying each other for generations, what makes it different “is the long-standing nature, the permanent nature of statements online.”

Of course, bullying can include many types of behavior such as verbally calling someone a name, cruel insults, making jokes about a person, spreading lies or physical bullying such hitting, kicking, punching or spitting — even making racist remarks.

Parents really should closely monitor their children’s cellphones and computers to be sure one’s child is not being bullied, especially if the child seems depressed, sad or says things like the family would be better off without them or they can’t handle school or life anymore. And parents should take all threats of suicide seriously.

Parents should also monitor their children’s cellphone and computer to make sure their child is not bullying another child in texts, tweets or Facebook comments. Surely no parent wants their child to be responsible for the death of another child.

In today’s world it pays for parents to be very vigilant when it comes to their children’s online access because not only is online bullying or being bullied a problem for youngsters but there are other menaces too — such as online child predators.

Yes, it isn’t so much a new world we’re living in but an old world with a new twist that makes it easier for our children to either fall victim to bullying or become a bully.

The CDC recommends that parents insist in being included in their children’s friends on social network sites so they can see if someone has posted mean a message or to stop their child from posting bullying comments that can harm another child.

Most schools in this area seem to be trying to stay on top of bullying and parents who know about problems should talk to school officials.

The 88th General Assembly passed a law in 2011 against cyberbullying. The law states, a person commits the offense of cyberbullying if he or she transmits, sends or posts a communication by electronic means with the purpose to frighten, coerce, intimidate, threaten, abuse, harass or alarm another person.

Cyberbullying in Arkansas is a Class B misdemeanor and a person can be prosecuted in the county where the person targeted by communication resides.

Arkansas Department of Education provides information for teachers and administrators on cyberbullying. It also offers tips for digital generation parents. This can be found at www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-parents-commonsense-video.