Posted by Joyce on March 17, 2009 under Cyberbullies | 
Someone parents a cyberbully every 15 seconds……..
It sounds like a drug free America commercial, doesn’t it? These are just my statistics – pure guesswork.
I had a Mom come tell me that her “perfect” daughter was caught TEXTING until 2 in the morning on school nights. The teen, from a strict set of parents, was forbidden to talk to boys after 5pm on the phone. What she was doing was quietly texting them until 2am with all kinds of tantalizing “requests.” Interspersed between suggestive notes were vicious messages she would send to a few girls she knew of at school that she disliked.
“Should I take her phone away?” was the mother’s question to me.
I hesitated as I thought about the ramifications of my real answer…..
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Posted by Joyce on March 16, 2009 under Cyberbullies, Internet Safety, Internet Scams |
Internet safety is main stream now. Gone are the days of “Another MySpace Predator!” and “To Catch A Predator.” There is not a lot associated with all-things-online that can shock us anymore. One of the leading safety research groups, as early as this past January, has declared the Internet safe.
Not only is the Internet is here to stay it’s now a part of our daily lives whether we TEXT, FLIX, IM or PIX.
However, the issues, problems or dangers – whatever you want to call them, online are still real. We’re just numb to them. And, by the way, the “experts” have discounted social networking from their study.
There is one continuing problem online today that is not going away and it’s more marginalized than ever - cyberbullying. I was reading the other day that 75% of the teens online say they have received a nasty email or text message. Their definition was that it was “something that made them uncomfortable.”
I don’t know if that stat is true or not. I do know that when I chat with the high school students I teach, they all seem to have been the receiver of at least one thing like that. None of them told anyone about it. A couple of them were really upset by it, too. They are more embarrassed at receiving it that they are emotionally upset at the content. Only weird kids get cyberbullied.
Cyberbullying doesn’t get its “due” in the media, either. It is somehow a shameful, almost stigmatized thing to be a cyberbully victim. It’s stigmatized by adults and educators, too. “It’s not my problem,” or “It’s the school’s problem,” or “It’s off campus,” is often followed by thoughts of, “That whimpy kid deserved it.”
The solutions are challenging since the problem is disowned by almost everyone involved. There is no comprehensive program, approach or effort to solutions to any great degree. The real solutions are pretty grassroots.
So, we’re going grassroots. “We” is my good pal Vanessa Van Petton from Radical Parenting. We’re starting a series on Cyberbullying - the biggest issue growing on the web today. Yes, there’s also a book coming out of it. Look for her perspective (she’s the young pretty one - rats!) and my ideas (I’m the jaded older one) on the topic.
We can take on cyberbullying with you and reduce its impact on kids. The good news is you don’t have to pull your hair out worrying that every time your kids go online that they’re going to meet a predator or a cyberbully. But don’t sit back and think there is no problem, either.
If the attention on the victim has not gone very far, then we’ll get to the cyberbullies to stop it. They won’t stop for a number of complicated reasons so we’re going directly to the source: the cyberbully’s parents.
If cyberbullies are as prevalent as we think, someone has to be their Mom or Dad. Chances are it’s every third person reading this post. Chances are you’re the parent of a cyberbully. Chances are even better you don’t even know it. You don’t have a clue.
We’ll help. We’re going to be revealing the tips on how to check your cyberbully at the door. Practical advice for both kids and parents and we’ll even be asking you what you think.
Posted by Joyce on February 10, 2009 under Cyberbullies |
Get ready mom and dad! Yes…..here comes another book!
More importantly, I’ve linked up with Vanessa Van Petten of On Teens Today fame - leading teen guru, writer, and major mom blog-maven.
We’re starting a series of posts and events on cyberbullying but from the side you would never expect. If there are some 70 million kids online saying they have been badly cyberbullied, chances are one of those bullies is your child.
So we’re getting real about it. We’re teaming up and I’m the old maid, internet safety “head” and parent and she’s the young, beautiful and brilliant woman writer with a massive teen and parent following.
It doesn’t get any better than this!
Look for our posts on both our blogs starting March 1, 2009. Look for the book next year! Send me your stories on your child’s online activities, too! Did you see an email or text message from your child you shouldn’t have?
In the meantime, check out Vanessa’s superb blog By Clicking Here and look for us to go toe-to-toe on cyberbullies.
