SchoolTipline.com Lets Kids Report Cyberbullying – Anonymously!
Maybe this is the way to go about it… a Brigham Young University student, Justin Bergener, created SchoolTipline.com, which lets students anonymously report incidents of cyberbullying, as well as information about thefts, drugs and harassment.
Bergener said he hopes students who might otherwise be too scared or shy to speak up will be willing to post on the site. Lots of schools are already using the site and even parents have reporter incidences.
Maybe this is the way to go. There is a code of silence in Middle Schools and a report in the Journal of School Health (see second story pasted below) shows that some 72% of teens who are frequent Internet users say they’ve been the victim of online bullying at least once during the past year. Yet, 90% of bullied teens don’t tell their parents about the incidents, mainly because they feel the need to deal with the problem on their own and are fearful of parental restrictions on Internet use.
If kids aren’t telling their parents, maybe this site can be the answer. This and, of course, monitoring software like our PC Pandora. With PC Pandora you’ll know if your child is a victim of a cyberbully, and you’ll know; you’ll also know if your child is the cyberbully and be able to stop them before the law does.
Web Site Lets Kids Report Cyberbullying
SALT LAKE CITY — Six Utah schools have started using a Web site that allows students to anonymously report bullies.
A Brigham Young University student, Justin Bergener, created the site, which also lets students post information about thefts, drugs and harassment.
Bergener said he hopes students who might otherwise be too scared or shy to speak up will be willing to post on the site.
“There really is this culture and code of silence that’s particularly prevalent in middle schools and high schools,” Bergener said.
Many students may not want to be seen in the office talking to an authority figure, said Rosanna Ungerman, principal of Provo’s Dixon Middle School.
“It allows students to have an outlet and avenue to report things they might otherwise not have reported,” Ungerman said.
Nearly 50 schools in other states are also using the Web site.
Even some parents have reported incidents anonymously, said Judy Runolfson, Lehi Junior High’s assistant principal.
“There’s a greater awareness that it’s a situation that needs to be looked into right away because we know it can lead from something that’s not that bad to something much worse,” Runolfson said.
Lehi seventh-grader Kimmy Mortenson said she hasn’t used the Web site, but thinks it’s a good idea.
“I think kids would feel more comfortable about reporting bullies that way,” Mortenson said. “They can safely report and not get bullied by the bully.”
Kids Hide Cyberbullying Incidents from Parents
By SLJ Staff — School Library Journal,
Cyberbullying is more common than you think, and teens aren’t telling their parents about it, says a new study in the Journal of School Health.In fact, some 72 percent of teens who are frequent Internet users say they’ve been the victim of online bullying at least once during the past year.
“Extending the School Grounds?—Bullying Experiences in Cyberspace” says online bullying is associated with in-school bullying, with 85 percent of respondents who reported at least one online incident also reporting being bullied in school.
Meanwhile, 90 percent of bullied teens don’t tell their parents about the online incidents, mainly because they feel the need to deal with the problem on their own and are fearful of parental restrictions on Internet use, says the study.
“Just as school-based bullying is considered a public health concern, online bullying should be recognized as an issue that needs attention,” say the study’s authors Jaana Juvonen and Elisheva F. Gross of the University of California in Los Angeles. “Because of the generation gap in electronic communication, however, parents and educators need to better understand both the positive and negative functions of teen online behavior.”
Bullying is a national public health problem affecting millions of students, but with the rapid increase in electronic communication, bullying is no longer limited to schools, the study adds.
The most frequent forms of online and in-school bullying involved name-calling or insults, and the online incidents most typically took place through instant messaging. Repeated school-based bullying experiences increased the likelihood of repeated cyberbullying more than the use of any particular electronic communication tool, with about two-thirds of cyberbullying victims reported knowing their perpetrators, and half of them knowing the bully from school, the study says.
Both in-school and online bullying experiences also were independently associated with increased social anxiety.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:06 PM
Nice article. Thanks.
Eugene
February 25th, 2009 at 8:08 PM
this girl in my school made a Youtube video. And she is making fun of everyone in our grade. I haven’t seen it yet, but I am worried that I have been made fun of
July 6th, 2011 at 11:44 PM
being cyber-bullied isn’t fun. but no mattter how many times i hit that block button, the same person keeps coming back. no matter how many times i report it, i still get hurtful comments. it made me try to kill myself not once, not twice, but 3 times, its been going for a long time, and it wont stop. my friends have turned on me, calling me a b*tch, or an f ing loser. it wont stop at all, no matter what happens
September 25th, 2011 at 10:38 AM
same thing as alyssa says.. and not only i wanted to commit suicide once but lyk everyday… and its just likely that everywhere i go parents, students, kids, even some police officers are loking bad at me usually cause of what some family said.. they recored my calls, mesages, they got pictures and everytghing and as i was entering a new highschool as freshman day planned and told everyone to jump me but no one did everyone just obviously called me a nasty hoe and things and crap.. the worst part is me trying to tell my mom but but she doesnt really want to listen shes just like yiu grown enough to ignore how im not little no more..but it just hurts cuz its messing up my repretation and like those words from people mouth isnt true.. then one day the boy told his dad his dad that i had sex wth him 2 times in the summer and basically i never leave my house cause my mom is haitian and dont allow it thwn he go head and get all these imbereessing picturesadn make it into his own and editing then=m , fixing them, and all sorts,… and you sdhould really check his facebook… jonel stlouis