Cyber bullying is any online activity intended to harass or threaten other people through abusive e-mails, hateful text messages, and malicious gossips.
Based on info gathered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of kids aged 10 to 17 harassed increased by 50%, from 6% in 2000 to 9% in 2005.
The big challenge now for many schools and parents is how to stop online bullying without restricting Internet access to children.
What is very disturbing about this mischievous activity is its psychological and emotional h to the victims.
In an interview by Michele Ybarra and her team at John Hopkins Unversity, they found that youth who reported being targeted by Internet harassment were eight times more likely to carry weapons to school.
To make matters worse, Reuters cited that 64 percent of those who reported having been bullied online were not victims of physical or verbal aggression in person. That makes for a whole new population of victims.
To learn more about cyber bullying, visit The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use.
Photo via Education Week
Originally posted on November 28, 2007 @ 2:57 am