Federal Way schools stand up to cyber-bullying

Published 12:46 pm Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Federal Way schools have taken a stand against cyber-bullying.

The school board passed an updated policy on harassment, intimidation and bullying at its last meeting to expand the policy to cover cyber-bullying with any form of technology.

The wording now includes any “electronically transmitted messages or images.”

The district will also add to its Web site information on the seriousness of cyber-bullying.

“This is very important to have this,” board member Amye Bronson-Doherty said. “I had a niece who was cyber-bullied and it changed where she went to school. It’s serious…cyber-bullying is very real and sadly too common.”

Cyber-bullying is described by the National Crime Prevention Council as “when someone uses the Internet, cell phones or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. Cyber-bullying is a problem that affects almost half of all American teens.”

Some examples are sending mean or threatening e-mails, instant message or text messages; tricking someone into revealing personal or embarrassing information and sending it to others; breaking into someone’s e-mail or instant messenger to send cruel or untrue messages while posing as that person; or creating Web sites to make fun of another person, such as a classmate or teacher.

The changes were brought in part by new state and federal rules that have cracked down on cyber-bullying.

The updated version also protects “classes of individuals.” This includes those with a “gender identity, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability or the use of a guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability.”

Statistics

• According to the National Crime Prevention Center, more than 40 percent of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online during the past year.

• Girls are more likely than boys to be the target of cyber-bullying. Also, there is a direct correlation to the amount of time girls spend online and the likelihood that they will be bullied.

• The National Crime Prevention Center study found that only 10 percent of those kids who were bullied told their parents about the incident, and that a mere 18 percent of the cases were reported to a local or national law enforcement agency.

• According to a recent study, 58 percent of fourth- through eighth-graders reported having mean or cruel things said to them online. 53 percent said they have said mean or hurtful things to others while online. 42 percent of those studied said that they had been “bullied online,” but almost 60 percent have never told their parents about the incident.

• Cell phone cameras and digital cameras are a growing problem in the cyber-bullying world. A recent survey found that 10 percent of 770 young people surveyed were made to feel “threatened, embarrassed or uncomfortable” by a photo taken of them using a cell-phone camera.

• According to extensive research on middle school age students and teenagers online, the fastest growing problems within the world of cyber-bullying are: Stealing an individual’s name and password to a social networking site, then using their profile to post rumors, gossip or other damaging information; altering photographs using PhotoShop or other photo editing software in order to humiliate the individual; recording conversations without the individual’s knowledge or consent, then posting the call online; creating confrontational and mean-spirited online polls about the individual and posting them on different Web sites; using Web sites and blogs to post hurtful, embarrassing information about another individual.