Cottage Grove police push for charges against students’ Facebook cyberbullying
May 22, 2012 at 8:05 am in South Washington County Bulletin
Cottage Grove police are using a tougher tactic to fight online bullying among teenagers: they’re seeking criminal charges of defamation and harassment. Continue Reading
Sorry, but this is nucking futs…just because we have the visibility of bullying in the cyber age, doesn’t mean we need to make convicted criminals of kids being kids. We don’t have an increase in bullying from when we were kids, we have an increase in seeing it happen and the means as adults are still there to stop it, thru parents and those in authority using traditional discipline methods. Not by charging a kid and bringing them to court. Or breaking out the taser because we have that as a new weapon. Our police time is better spent on dealing with real crime in our communities, not cracking down on youth.
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Unfortunately parents of these kids are of the same mind most times and it does no good. No bullying has not increased, it is still the same, it is only more and more visible to adults. Why don’t we just publically shame the kids instead of filing charges. Oh wait, shaming is not politically correct is it. Common sense has left america
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I am not so sure that I can agree with you LCD – if a person creates a Facebook page purporting to be someone other than themself (and this has been happening to several students attending CGMS) and using it to spew misinformation or other vile epressions of hate – wouldn’t that person be commiting the very real crime of – false impersonation? Minnesota statute – 609.83 FALSELY IMPERSONATING ANOTHER. OK, OK, I know this sounds extreme, but what makes defrauding someone of money or goods any worse or better than defrauding someone of their personal safety and security?
The problem that I see today with cyberbullying that makes it very different from the “traditional” playground bullying of the past, is that it “storms and permeates” the very walls of the victim’s home – a place in which most kids SHOULD feel safe. If you have a cell phone and your parents require that you have it on inorder to contact you, it is an open portal for those who wish to make phone calls or send text messages. Now imagine if your number is passed around to multiple people – all of them calling you or sending you insulting text messages. In doing a little bit more searching on the topic I have found this: Compounding this infiltration into the home life of the cyberbully victim is the unique way in which the internet can “create simultaneous sensations of exposure (the whole world is watching) and alienation (no one understands). For youths who experience shame or self-hatred, this effect is dangerous because it can lead to extreme self isolation.
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This falls under parents not monitoring what their kids are up to on computers and cell phones. Having these devices can be like owning a mean pit bull. And Facebook can be pretty evil.
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You into drama David? We have a self proclaimed generation of victims and a police state that bombards television viewers with the threat of jail time for things we already had to know were against the law to obtain a driver’s license. Sorry, had to mix apples and oranges to join you on the dramatic side.
Any storming of a victims home stops pretty fast when you are mature enough to use your power switch. Go ahead, David, threaten me and I’ll demonstrate by logging back out and turning off the computer and viola you are back to being an invisible person living inside my computer until I choose I even want to address you by turning it on again.
That puts us back to old school bullying in person issues that we already have the means without a SWAT team to protect kids (and some adults) against.
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LCD, you are as halucinogenic as the name you hide behind. The bullying is the mass spreading of information about a person through texting, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The person who starts it is nameless and it permeates from there. You can’t just turn off your computer and it is gone. The words and rumors spread and the next thing you know, you are the object of ridicule because a nameless person decided to take a shot at you (true or untrue). You are all about personal responsibility, but when the parents of the bullies don’t know about it. And the bullied can’t identify who is doing the bullying, it is a problem and enforcement should be brought in. We aren’t in a police state, get a grip on reality. You sit and hide behind an anonymous name, just like the cowards who cyber bully. Nobody knows who you are, therefore I can speak my mind, say what I want about whomever, and there is no personal accountability. Ignorance must truly be bliss.
Amazingly, this same revelation can be found in The Bible – nearly 2,000 years ago – a reference that applies to today’s cyberbullying –
James 3: 5-8
5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
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omg! I have to agree with the others LCD you do not live in reality or you were never a victim of bullying. Were you perhaps a bully? Bullying is insidious in it’s actions and the results of it NEVER go away. No it cannot be turned off by turning off a computer.
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LCD, thank you for your comments, in which I shall give due consideration.
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Two things stick out to me. First, pressing formal charges against these kids will be something that will be on their permanent juvenile record. This record will follow them. Would this deter them? Probably not. Why? Because the kids that do things like this are not kids that really care about what kind of future that they might have. They are kids who know what they are doing, and know the consequences. They are kids whose parents do not keep track of what they are doing or who they are doing it to. The kids that resort to these sorts of things are usually, but not always, the kids who think who that they are above the rules/law. While it might be easy for most adults to “turn off the computer”, it’s not that way for kids. These things follow kids to school, to the playground, and anywhere else there might be groups of kids. For the victim, turning off the computer doesn’t change anything. Kids take things differently than adults, and what we might blow off as being something that people will get over in a few days, kids do not. Let’s face it, kids are just cruel like that.
The second thing that comes to mind is, where are the parents? Why do they not know, or care what is happening? While I agree that kids who have shown that they can handle it responsibly, do deserve a certain level of privacy, I do not believe that they should not be monitored by their parents. Parents should know passwords so that they can see what is being posted on social networks, they should check cellphones for messages that might be troublesome, and they should know who their kids spend their time with. Parents should know that they will be held responsible for their kids’ actions as well. I think that if more parents had to face the consequences of their kids bad behavior, they might take more of an interest in what they are doing when they are not with them. Do I think that the parents should go to jail? Probably not. But, there should certainly be programs in place that help kids to see that this behavior is not acceptable, and the parents should be made to attend as well.
You might just shake your head at the headlines that are becoming more and more common about children and teens who have killed themselves or their “friends” because of being bullied, but it is happening. The only way that you can be absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt certain that it is not happening to your child is if you are NOT a parent.
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Just my opinion, but isn’t it up to the parents to be monitors of their children? Parenting children involves more than giving your kids a phone so you can contact them. Building self esteem, discipline, boundaries and responsibility goes a long way to preventing bad behavior. If kids act up, take appropriate action, don’t blame everything else for what they’ve done. The way your children behave is a reflection on their parents. I would hope that my child would be brought up well enough to stand up to the bullying.
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Basically the difference is if someone calls you LCD an opinioned jerk, wow, no big deal, right? Now imagine if someone says to you, I saw you picking your nose and eating the boogers, or you are a fat pig, or oh my god, what died in here, oh wait, it’s you! Now imagine going home where you should feel safe and secure and receiving texts to that effect, or phone calls. Now imagine going out to chat with your friends on facebook and receiving those type of messages constantly, or find them plastered all over your page. Imagine how vicious that is.
Children are some of the most viscious cruel animals in the world. And these kids that are doing this are some of the cruelest, they are doing this deliberately.
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John, why is it the victims responsibility to stand up to the bullying, why is it not the bully’s responsibility not to do this behavior in the first place? It is also their parent’s responsibility to raise a decent human being not a bully. So let’s punish the parent as well? Oh my see how this can get out of control? So basically John, what I interpreted what you just said was that it is okay to bully, the victim needs to take and rise above it. What a load of crap.
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What? I meant that if, by chance, my child is bullied, I would hope that he/she is strong enough to stand up for themself and rise above it. I don’t think its ok to bully anybody, but it definitely happens and don’t pretend it doesn’t. I think people need to stand up for themselves and what they believe in, or they will be passed over, taken advantage of, or bullied. I can only influence my children and those close to me, I cannot prevent all behavior from everybody else.
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ahh, thank you for the clarification John.
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What would happen if these kids threw a party when their parents weren’t looking? The parents would be responsible. The same thing should happen here. Who bought the kids the devices they are using to bully others? Who’s paying for the internet each month?
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