Cyber-Bullying
There is a new kind of humiliation in schools these days - bullying on the internet. Children are using the anonymity of the Internet to harass other children, spread cruel rumors and sometimes even threaten physical harm. The worst thing is that it can happen anywhere, anytime. The same technology that has brought so many benefits is also bringing pain to far too many children, while allowing others to brutalize their peers without the chance of getting caught.

•New pain, old problem. By simply creating a separate screen name or instant message (IM) identity, kids can use the Internet to send hate mail that, in most cases, can’t be traced.
•Not an isolated incident. Studies have found that as many as one in four children has been harassed online.
•IMs are the biggest problem. Instant messaging (IM) has replaced the pre-teen and teen rituals of the past - passing notes and talking on the phone.
•Bad judgment can cause a lifetime of hurt. Children sometimes, without thinking of the consequences, send very personal information to others over the internet. Once they’re sent, they’re “out there.” The person who receives the images can send them to others, and on and on.

Here are some tips for parents:
•Discuss the topic with your child. You may be surprised to learn that your child already had been a target of cyber-bullying. If so, the most important thing is to find out what kind of bullying is taking place. Are the words just cruel or are threats involved?
•Keep records. Use your computer to copy and print all of the offending IMs or e-mails, including the “buddy name” of the perpetrator. If physical harm is being threatened, you must talk to the police. Although it is difficult to discover the identity of an Internet name, authorities can do so if a life has been threatened.
•Monitor your child when he/she is on the computer. Listen for signs that he/she is being unkind (cruel laughter as they send or read an IM or e-mail), as well as for indications that he/she is being bullied. Then take action.

Blogging
Blogging or “web logging” is an increasingly popular way for teens to chat with each other, meet friends online and journal their thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, blogging can also be dangerous.
MySpace.com currently is booming in popularity and ranks as the third most popular internet site. Nearly 50 million people currently have accounts and access the personal web pages at <MySpace.com>. At MySpace a user can create a personal web page and attach music, pictures and messages. At the same time parents and schools are very concerned about the safety of young users who provide too much information about themselves.

Although the minimum age required by MySpace is 14, if students of any age simply indicate that they are 14, they can be a user.
Do you have a 14 year-old daughter? She may be pretending to be a 25 year-old in her profile on <www.MySpace.com>. And the 14 year-old boy she thinks she’s corresponding with may be a 35 year old. What if she isn’t using your home computer, but logged on in a local coffee shop or other public computer access area? Could that 35 year old be at the next table watching her?

Teens everywhere are using these sights to create profiles with provocative photos and false information, thinking it’s just harmless fun, chatting with someone in cyberspace. As parents we hope the conversation our sons and daughters are having on-line are safe, but please be aware that they may be playing with fire. We recommend talking with our children about safe use of the internet, particularly blogging sites such as MySpace.com (This site is blocked in District 155.). Let your children know your family’s rules and how to keep safe. Ask your teen to show you his/her MySpace.com account if they have one. If your teen is pretending he/she is someone he/she is not, who’s to say the person on the other end of the wire isn’t doing the same thing?
What can we do about this? At school, the links to MySpace.com and similar sites are blocked. We do this for a number of reasons - mostly because even those students who do use this site in a safe and proper manner ought to be using school time for educational purposes.
As for home access, discussing the issue of internet safety with your child is extremely important. Parental supervision is equally important. There is software that parents can install that blocks specific web sites and provides parents with a list of the sites their child is accessing. Parents can discuss these issues and impress upon their children the dangers that lurk when anonymous users on the internet correspond with them or view personal information they have posted.
The following web sites provide information for parents: