Monkey See, Monkey Do

With so many cases of cyberbullying occurring everyday, you can’t help but wonder why it’s happening. Obviously the emerging technologies like texting, email, Facebook, and Myspace, allow teenagers to send threatening and cruel messages, but what spurs teenagers to send them in the first place? While one primary cause is probably unknown, one trend I’ve noticed lately is the topic of cyberbullying in the media. Literally, it’s everywhere! Cyberbullying topics are being shown and talked about more frequently on the news, primetime TV shows, and movies than ever before. As the saying goes, monkey see, monkey do.

Every Monday night at 9pm, two million viewers, mostly teenage girls, tune in to watch one of this decade’s most popular shows: Gossip Girl. That infamous line from the opening credits—“The one and only source in to the scandalous lives of Manhattan elite”—is recognizable almost everywhere. The show centers on a social gossip website, Gossip Girl, where characters can send in information, pictures, or videos about any other character. The character’s in the show not only turn to Gossip Girl for the latest rumors and scandals, but also use it to “destroy” whoever their enemy is at the time. On more than one occasion, characters have sent false information to the Gossip Girl website for the sole purpose of hurting or ruining another character’s reputation. How can parents be even remotely surprised when their seemingly innocent teenage daughters are bullying other students when this is what they’re watching on TV? I admit, for me, Gossip Girl is a guilty pleasure, but I’m mature and realistic enough to know that these characters aren’t setting a good example and that cyberbulling is never the answer. ABC Family’s new show “Pretty Little Liars” also revolves around a cyberbully, known only as “A.” The four main characters in the show are tormented and threatened on a daily basis via text and email by the mysterious “A.” Even shows that aren’t geared towards adolescents are using cyberbullying as a central theme. Recently, the daytime television show, “One Life to Live” created a storyline involving a high-school-aged character being harassed by an anonymous cyberbully.

Luckily, many shows and movies are using their cyberbullying themes to raise awareness of the issue. In a February interview with TV Guide, “One Life to Live” writer, Ron Carlivati, explains that the show has partnered with STOMP Out Bullying and would be running PSA’s about cyberbullying when the episode revealing the bully aired. Television channels, such as Lifetime, are also taking advantage of the opportunity to increase cyberbullying awareness. In 2005, Lifetime premiered an original movie titled “Odd Girl Out,” based on the 1957 novel Ann Bannon. The film follows the fictional story of an eighth grader named Vanessa, who after being pushed out of the “popular clique,” begins being terrorized by the girls who were once her best friends. Vanessa is frequently bombarded by the girls in school hallways and bathrooms, where she is verbally brutalized, degraded for her appearance, and teased about embarrassing secrets. Outside of school, she is sent malicious instant messages and links to a website with humiliating photos of her and comments of hatred. The film concludes with an all-to-real scenario in which Vanessa nearly kills herself by overdosing on sleeping pills.
According to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, the average teen ages 12-17 watches 23 hours of television per week. Considering these statistics, television appears to be an affective way to relay messages to teenagers. That being said…

ATTENTION ALL TELEVISION STATIONS: If you are going to center shows and movies around bullying, great. This issue definitely needs to be brought to the attention of the public. However, there needs to be some sort of announcement made before, after, or during the program advocating the termination of cyberbullying. You may say to yourself “Teenagers know that this is just a TV show or movie. They wouldn’t use the show or movie to justify corrupt behavior.” If you honestly think that, you, my friend, are VERY VERY WRONG. After all, as the saying goes, monkey see, monkey do.

Thanks to these website for providing me with my information:
http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/pediatrics/tvteens/index.html
http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/435084_tvgif8.html

Phoebe's Story

The one thing bullies don’t consider when abusing their victims is the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, the consequences aren’t simply emotional distress. In some cases, when bullying goes too far, the consequences are much more severe. Some victims have resorted to eating disorders, cutting, and even suicide. In Phoebe Prince’s case, suicide seemed to be her only option.

Phoebe, an Irish immigrant, was a freshman at South Hadley High School. After three month of being tormented by peers via text message and Facebook, Phoebe hung herself on January 14, 2010. It’s reported that in one incidence, a soda can was thrown at her. Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel reported that Phoebe was bullied because of a romantic relationship she was in with one of the male suspect, which had ended only a few weeks prior to her suicide. Most of the bullying occurred on school grounds, where Scheibel said administrators were aware of the bullying, but did nothing to end it.

After her death, nine students were indicted on charges including statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury, criminal harassment, and stalking. Scheibel reports that the tormenting made it impossible for Phoebe to keep attending classes. She was frequently called an “Irish slut” and “whore,” assumingly because she had dated a senior football player as a freshman. Other students commented that the situation felt like the entire school ganged up on her, repeatedly knocking her books out of her hands, throwing various items at her, and sending threatening messages to her cell phone. Unfortunately, bullies went so far as to post cruel comments on her Facebook memorial page that was created following her tragic death.

Phoebe Prince

What is cyber bullying?

What happens when our right to free speech and all the freedoms and functions of the Internet combine to form a trend that’s sweeping the youth of our nation? Something that is emotionally and physically harming students and teenagers across the country. Something that needs to be stopped NOW. I’m assuming the words “cyber bullying” aren’t flashing in your mind right now. Whether we choose to believe it or not, adolescents are being bullied over the Internet and social networking sites everyday, creating an epidemic that’s spreading fast.

Although bullying has taken on a less physical form, the emotional injuries suffered by cyber bullied victims are becoming much more severe. Instead of being pushed around or picked on during recess, children and teenagers are becoming susceptible to online abuse that can happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. According to Bill Belsey from bullying.org, cyber bullying is defined as: The use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others. You may think that because kids who are being bullied electronically aren’t usually physically harmed that this issue isn’t worth discussing or taking action. Just because there are no physical signs of abuse, doesn’t make this form of bulling any less real or important. In fact, because there are no physical indicators, parents, teachers, and peers are less likely to notice when a child is being bullied, which can make the bullying even more painful. Even more shocking, are the statistics:

• Over 50% of adolescents have been bullied online. Approximately the same number has been the bully.
• 1 in 3 youths have been threatened online.
• Only 1 in 10 victims of cyber bullying tell a parent.
• Less than 20% of cyber bulling incidents are report to local Law Enforcement.
• Cell phones are the most popular form of cyber bulling, as 80% of teens use them on a regular basis.
• Cyber bullying affects people of all genders, races, and ages.
• Cyber bullied victims are more likely to have low self esteem and consider or commit suicide.

Although the primary reason for creating this blog was for a communications technology class project, I’m hoping that my blog can result in more than just a good grade. Cyber bulling is affecting someone right now. The first step to stopping cyber bullying is spreading awareness. I’ll be updating my blog hopefully once or twice a week with information and stories that will hopefully help bring attention to this destructive subject.

For more statistics on cyber bullying, visit websites like:
• www.cyberbullying.us
• www.bullyingstatistics.org
• www.cyberbullying.org