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Monday 9 May 2011

CyberBullying

Bullying is a serious issue,and even more so in the 21st century,when technology makes it so easy to communicate 24/7 with friends, family and/or strangers. It is hard enough being bullied as an adult, but most adults have the wherewithal to stand up for themselves or contact the HR Department if a co-worker is verbally abusing them. In a professional environment, no bully would dare to physically abuse you, they would be fired immediately! In elementary school, unfortunately, there aren't such punitive measures taken. Usually the bullies get detention, and their parents are informed. That hardly gets to the root of the matter. The bullies should be suspended for three days and when they come back to school should have to attend mandatory therapy sessions three times a week with the school guidance counselor . There have been many documented examples of bullying that ended up in victims committing suicide, and in the worst case scenario, there have been school shootings such as Columbine.  I think the parents have to be vigilant and observant. They have to make sure the kid is not susceptible to trolls and pedophiles online! If a child is under 17, they should only be allowed to use the internet in the family room, under parental supervision. The author Jodie Picoult wrote a great book that reads like it was ripped out of the headlines. It describes a school shooting, and I actually felt sympathy for the bully as well as the victims. Bullies are usually very unhappy people, but making others miserable isn't going to change that. They need attention, love, and guidance just like anyone else

http://www.amazon.com/Nineteen-Minutes-Novel-Jodi-Picoult/dp/0743496728



3 comments:

  1. "The bullies should be suspended for three days and when they come back to school should have to attend mandatory therapy sessions three times a week with the school guidance counselor ."

    Glad you said that! I'd been thinking about the whole suspension concept and the fact that most suspended students just see it as a day off. What do they learn from that?

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  2. School bullies should definitely have mandatory counseling...and so should their parents. Not that it's automatically the parents fault but regardless, they need coping tools as well as the student.

    And you point out what I've always thought...it's no ones responsibility to monitor kids online except their PARENTS...not the authorities, and not other adult internet users. No TV or computers in the bedroom, upstairs and down the hall where they can't be supervised.

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  3. there needs to be more follow-up, the bully has to understand that there is a problem, as well as the parent(s)and what's at stake. The victim as scary as it is, has to tell somebody close to them. In addition, it's unfortunate but technology has opened other channels for bullying to occur, which makes it more difficult to monitor in todays parental world.

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