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Cyberbullying is on the rise. Nation wide, not just in Newburyport. What used to be name calling by a locker or a giggle in a gym class has turned into a constant barage that has become impossible to escape.
Below was taken from i-SAFE Inc.
- Cyber Bullying Statistics 42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once.
- 35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 have had it happen more than once.
- 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.
- 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once.
- 53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 have done it more than once.
- 58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.
As adults we have been slower to embrace technology and social networking, but for kids under 18 it is an intricate and embedded way of communication. Texting, Facebook, Twitter, and blogging have become an intimate and even empowering way of expression. That expression can be easily turned and manipulated into cyber bulling.
In 2008, The Current published a series of stories about Newburyport’s desire to adress the growing National trend.
” There is bad news and good news about school bullying in Newburyport. The bad news is, we have it. The good news is, we know we have it and school personnel and parents are working together to deal with it.”
The district has since offered parental seminars and comprehensive surveys have been preformed to assess parental and student concerns. Newburyport has for some time been looking at this growing issue and working diligently to combat it.
It was through that awareness and this case received such quick attention from authorities. This case has clearly touched a nerve with almost all local news outlets – a search of Newburyport on Twitter found almost nothing except references to this case. While arrests have been made, many of the details are still unknown.
The Newburyport Daily News is reporting that representative Mike Costello has been retained to defend one of the accused teens.
However this particular incident plays out, it is reassuring to know that the Newburyport police are considering cyber bullying a serious threat.
