MIKE WENDLAND: Cyber-bullies make it tough for kids to leave playground
BY MIKE WENDLAND
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
November 17, 2003

Now there are cyber-bullies distressing our kids.

And unlike traditional school-yard bullies, there's no getting away from these high-tech harassers because of e-mail, instant messaging, Wi-Fi connected laptops and text messages sent by cell phone -- sometimes with offensive and insulting photographs.

Technology has made it possible to always be in communication with someone, says Glenn Stutzky, a school safety violence specialist serving on the faculty of Michigan State University's School of Social Work. Cyber-bullies are using it to spread rumors, threaten people and generally make life miserable for their victims at will and throughout the day and night.

It's not an insignificant problem, he says, noting that early research says 20 to 30 percent of kids report being the victim of a bully. Bullying is the most frequently occurring form of violence in American schools today, Stutzky says. It is the engine that drives the majority of violence that is happening.

The emergence of cyber-bullies has coincided with what Stutzky calls the rise of the always-connected generation -- teens who have grown up with computers and the Internet. Add cell phones to the equation -- one in three kids ages 10 to 19 now has his or her own cell phone, according to a study by the Yankee Group market research firm -- and you have a generation that is in constant communications with a wide network of their peers no matter where they are.

The availability of picture phones has even resulted in compromising photos of students in school locker rooms or rest rooms being mass e-mailed to their peers.

Stutzky conducts workshops around the country on how to bully-proof schools, and he says he is increasingly encountering examples of cyber-bullying. For example:


A middle school girl went to Toronto with her family and some friends for a theater weekend. When she returned, everyone at school was avoiding her, moving away when she tried to approach anyone. She found out that another girl had started a rumor, via text messaging, that the girl had contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome while in Toronto.

Another middle school girl received text messages about her choice of shoes: Where did your mommy buy those shoes -- the bargain basement? Girls tend to be bullied most about their appearance and their choice of clothes, Stutzky notes.

A straight high school boy received a text message saying Just how gay are you? The message went on to ask how many boys he had had sex with that week. A large part of bullying and harassment among boys centers on sex and sexual orientation, according to Stutzky's research.
Besides the traditional harassment and name-calling, cyber-bullying tends to spread more rumors and gossip than physical intimidation and bullying, he notes.

It is hard to overstate how devastating this kind of bullying is on the young people who have been singled out, Stutzky says. Emotionally, they are at a very vulnerable time in their development, and while these comments may seem silly to people who have matured, they are very devastating to the young people on the receiving end.

Kids are technologically harassed at school, at home, at the dinner table with parents, when they're on their computers doing homework at night, even in the middle of the night when the phone rings, he says. That's what many say is the worst part about cyber-bullies -- there's no safe place to get away from them.

Stutzky is working up a list of suggestions for educators and parents on how to spot cyber-bullying. But among immediate things parents can do is watch their child's reaction when a cell phone message comes across, and then ask him or her about the contents. Same thing applies to computer use and instant messages.

Some kids may be too young to have a cell phone or unsupervised Internet access.

Cyber-bullies have their victims on an electronic tether, Stutzky says. The kids on the receiving end can't get out of range.



Contact MIKE WENDLAND at 313-222-8861 or [email protected].

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