The recent tragedy of the suicide of a Geelong year 9 student, Chanelle Rae, shows has been huge in the news in recent months. It shows how common and significant Cyber Bullying is becoming as in issue in Australia today - and it needs to be tackled. The devastated mother of the teenage girl has warned parents through the media how dangerous the internet can be for young people and she said "I can guarantee that if she didn't go on the internet on friday night, she'd still be alive today." This case truly does act as a warning to parents of teenagers to watch their children's use of the internet.Cyber Bullying is basically any form bullying through technology. This can range from embarrassing video's and photo's being sent from mobile phone to mobile phone via bluetooth to sending threats over instant messanges - although the bullying only occurs on screens it has the same impact if not worse than Bullying in person. A recent survey conducted shows that 10% of Australian kids have been cyber-bullied at some point in their lives - this really emphasizes the need for greater awareness in communities today.
Donna Cross, an ECU child health expert who's completed a study on Cyber Bullying said that Cyber Bullying has significant effects on a child's mental health, both in the short term and the long term. "They're much more likely to feel depressed, anxious, their self asteem is affected, there are some students that report suicide ideation." she told the ABC in a 7.30 report segment.
Tom Wood, a teenager who's been a cyber bullying victim before has now become an anti Cyber Bullying campaigner. He educates school kids on the steps to take when being cyber-bullied. "I usually tell them not to respond to the bully, just to block and delete them, save the evidence and report the abuse to the administrator because most of the time that will effectively stop it." he told the ABC in the 7.30 report segment.
So basically I think Cyber-Bullying is something that can be easily dealt with, but in order for kids to learn how to deal with this they need more education on this issue in high schools. The recent passing of the Geelong year 9 student, Chanelle Rae, was an easily preventable de
ath - it did not need to occur. But unfortunately this incident is evidence of how much cyber-bullying can affect a teenager's mental health. My sympathy and deepest thoughts is with her family and friends =(
Here are some ways to deal with cyber bullying:
- Talk openly about it with your parents. Although they were not exposed to this type of bullying in their day, they're bound to listen to you because they care.
- Block or delete the bully from your account. Ignoring will be affective as their messages will not send.
- Print out evidence of the Bullying and report it to your school principal. Part of their jobs is to deal with bullying - both on the net and off the net.
& For those of you who are not bullying or getting bullied, peers, you can make the largest difference by standing up for the victim and saying 'we will not tolerate this!'
Here is a link to the 7.30 report segment:http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/23/2633775.htm
& Here is a link to an inspirational video about a father of a cyber-bullying suicide victim going round to schools and giving advice on the issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDBiqUWRtMo
