MONTREAL – Marshall Brooks’s cheekbone was broken in two places and his eye socket shattered when one of his classmates gave him a vicious beating last week just outside their Westwood Senior High School yard.
But what was most horrifying to the seasoned police officers and school principal who viewed video footage of the attack in Hudson is that not one of the 50 or so students looking on tried to stop the beating or bothered to call 911.
Instead, they captured the action on their cellphones, eager to upload the drama to the Web. Only after the damage was done did someone step in.
Kenneth Weishuhn, a high school freshman in Paullina, Iowa, took his own life Saturday after being bullied by classmates at school and online, and with death threats by phone.
By University of British Columbia, [RxPG] University of British Columbia research comparing traditional bullying with cyberbullying finds that the dynamics of online bullying are different, suggesting that anti-bullying programs need specific interventions to target online aggression.
There are currently many programs aimed at reducing bullying in schools and I think there is an assumption that these programs deal with cyberbullying as well, says Jennifer Shapka, an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at UBC who is presenting this research at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting in Vancouver.
What we’re seeing is that kids don’t equate cyberbullying with traditional forms of schoolyard bullying. As such, we shouldn’t assume that existing interventions will be relevant to aggression that is happening online.
Within the span of a week, two female airmen who were awarded the Bronze Star have been targeted by cyber bullies who claim they do not deserve their awards, generating a wider discussion of who should be eligible for the Bronze Star Medal and whether the Air Force issues too many of the medals.
The controversy began in late March after the Air Force posted a story online about Tech. Sgt. Christina Gamez, a financial analyst with the 802nd Comptroller Squadron who received the Bronze Star on March 14 at Joint Base San Antonio.
The childhood mantra, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” is no longer true.
The words, once thought the weaker of the phrase, can now kill.
This weekend, The Sun published a story about 15-year-old Howard County student Grace McComas, who committed suicide, a tragedy her family attributed to relentless cyberbullying she experienced in school.
Her death garnered national attention on social media sites, and among local celebrities, who helped spread the word about a memorial that encouraged the region to wear blue, her favorite color, on Friday.
Some experts (Mason, 2008; Willard, 2007) suggest that it is important for schools to take preventive measures against cyberbullying and to respond to incidents and maintaining a safe school environment. It is important that the whole school community should be aware of what cyberbullying is and the impact it has and how it is possible to create a safe school environment.
Recent research studies underline five key points to address cyber bullying and provide an effective and integrated approach to prevention at the same time:
Charlsea Brewer could hear them talking. Too many eyes watched her.
It wasn’t just the other teenagers from Kearney Junior High at a Wednesday night church youth group, but adults, too.
A mom was talking to a pastor. Charlsea heard something barely in the whispers: “That’s the girl who…”
She was a 14-year-old eighth-grader learning what it’s like to be the sudden target of violent rumors whipped by the reckless world of Facebook.
Charlsea did not create a “hit list” targeting popular schoolmates.
You can still write annoying, profane things about this story — at least for now.
Arizona legislators are expected to amend a controversial bill that experts say could stifle free speech online and violate the First Amendment. But free speech experts say the anticipated changes to the bill — which will be made before sending the legislation to Gov. Jan Brewer (R) — may not fix the major flaws in the proposal, which passed both legislative houses last week.
The high-profile documentary “Bully,” released in limited U.S. cities Friday, features Sioux City’s decade-long anti-bullying program and a Sioux City student who moved after being harassed repeatedly, especially on the school bus.
The Sioux City district plans to show the film at schools, incorporating a curriculum now under development, said spokeswoman Alison Benson. Other Iowa districts are weighing use of the film as a teaching tool.
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Davidson Police are investigating a death that has had a dramatic effect on teens at Hough and North Mecklenburg High Schools.
NewsChannel 36 is not revealing the name of the victim because her death was a suicide.
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