"Last night I died a thousand deaths / Ondalay / Blindsided in the dead of night / Whadahey / I try to explain what it feels like - when you're shot in the back of your mind with a bulletless gun by a kid that you don't even hardly know..."
- Lyrics from the folk/rock anti-cyber bullying anthem, "Shot With a Bulletless Gun," by the rock band Truth on Earth
For decades, youngsters have grappled with how to silence taunts from bullies in school hallways and on playgrounds.
Until recently, victims rarely had trouble connecting an aggressor's face with a name.
But these days, bullies have found creative new ways to launch their attacks - on the World Wide Web.
Law enforcement officials nationwide call this troubling new phenomenon "cyber bullying," one in which bullies make verbal attacks in Internet chat rooms.
Although tri-city area law enforcement departments, including Prescott police and the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, have not reported any major problems with cyber bullying to date, school resource officers, teachers and principals are educating parents about its dangers.
This brand of bullying differs from its traditional form because it penetrates the home, a place where victims once felt safe.
Unlike physical bullying, electronic bullies can remain virtually nameless and faceless - using temporary e-mail accounts, pseudonyms in chat rooms, instant messaging programs, cell-phone text messaging and other Internet venues to mask their identities.
And they deliberately and repeatedly treat their victims - primarily teens - with hostility.
In seconds, a cyber bully can spread rumors and lies about someone to hundreds of people across the Internet. Magnifying the problem is that some bullies attack victims they do not know.
Prescott police officer Dave Fuller, Prescott High School's resource officer, said cyber bullying is common on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube.
He added that cyber bullying mostly occurs between females during arguments over boys or an alleged wrong. "It's an issue for us. We see it and try to deal with it the best way we can by encouraging peer mediation," Fuller said. "We try to give empowerment to alleged victims by telling them to ignore, hang up, or delete e-mails to give them power. If the victim ignores these attacks, they usually go away."
Serena, a guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist with the Illinois-based rock group Truth on Earth, who prefers to keep her last name anonymous, helped her band write a song speaking out against cyber bullying.
"People who do this are cowards who can't control their emotional problems in manageable ways, so they instead hide behind the computer and say things they would never have the guts to say to your face," she said.
Tess, Truth on Earth's vocalist/keyboardist, said educating parents and their children about cyber bullying is the key to preventing it.
"Most of the adults we talk with about cyber bullying have never even heard of it before," she said. "They have a hard time understanding the negative impact and the overwhelming feelings cyber- bullied teens feel."
In May 2007, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard kicked off National Internet Safety Month by taking a stand against cyber bullying.
Two years ago, Missouri teen Megan Meier, 13, committed suicide after receiving repeated harassment and ridicule online. Her case brought national attention to the problem.
In June 2007, Granite Mountain Middle School counselor David Hunt told the Daily Courier that cyber bullies hide behind temporary e-mail addresses and use fake identities, among other things, to avoid "face-to-face contact."
Hunt and other educators encourage parents of teens who use the Internet and cell phones to monitor what their children are doing and keep the family computer in a common room of the home.
Contact the reporter at dcook@prescottaz.com
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, December 20, 2008
Article comment by:
Benjamin Wright
Lori Drew's case holds a lot of lessons for a lot of people. Cyberbullying is behavior for which society has little tolerance. Cyberbullying is poison for anyone it touches. An institution like Myspace -- or a library or a school, which provides patrons, students or guests access to the Internet -- has plentiful incentive to stamp out cyberbullying within its system and its PCs. Regardless of how the law says it (through a misdemeanor criminal conviction or otherwise), the law has made clear it wants to find a way to punish anyone involved with cyberbullying. --Ben
Posted: Saturday, December 20, 2008
Article comment by:
Mike
We need to realize that standing on the corner taking pictures of people day workers in threatening manner is bullying. What about some of the crazy letters that appear on these posts? How about threateing people when you do not like how they voted (Gay mairrage)? I guess it is all determined by intent. Uou need to ask yourself what you intend to accomplish with your comments or actions.
