CYBERBULLYING & INTERNET SAFETY BREAK THE SILENCE- SAVE A LIFE Jasmine Corbin http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/cyberbullying.htm http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/bystanders-role-in-cyberbullying

Group activity Raise your hand if the following questions relate to you…. Have you ever been cyberbullied? Do you know of people that are being cyberbullied? Do you think cyberbullying is a problem at school? Do you know what to do if you are being cyberbullied? Have you ever been a bystander to someone being cyberbullied and not helped? Have you ever cyberbullied someone? In one word how does cyberbullying make you feel?

Guest Speaker: Brooke Barr

What is cyberbullying? Sending/posting harmful or cruel texts or images over the internet or other communication devices Stalking, threats, harassment, impersonation, humiliation, trickery, and exclusion Creating a hate group about someone. Posting mean comments online. Photoshopping someone’s photo to embarrass them. Recording and posting fight videos. Spreading rumors and gossip through text messages. Stealing someone’s identity to create a fake profile. Involves sending or posting harmful or cruel texts or images over the internet or other communication devices Stalking, threats, harassment, impersonation, humiliation, trickery, and exclusion

Bystanders role in cyberbullying What is a bystander? What makes a bystander different from a victim or a bully? What is so wrong with being a bystander? What is a bystander? A bystander is someone who sees what is happening between the bully and the victim but is not directly involved in the bullying. What makes a bystander different from a victim or a bully? Bystanders are very different from either victims or bullies mainly because they make a decision to stay on the outside of the situation. Whereas victims and bullies are directly involved, bystanders think that avoiding the conflict altogether is either the right move or the best thing for them personally. What is so wrong with being a bystander? Research on bullying has often concluded that it occurs most frequently in the presence of bystanders who choose to merely watch the events unfold instead of doing something.  Just by being a part of a social media or other online space, you may give a cyberbully an incentive to embarrass or threaten a victim because the bully will have an audience.

STATISTICS Ctd. 87% of todays youth in the U.S. have witnessed cyberbullying 83% of victims felt that bullying hurt their self esteem 30% of victims have turned to self harming behaviors, which has increased by 6% since 2013 10% have attempted to take their own lives

Cyberbullying and the law Certain types of cyberbullying may violate school codes or breach anti- discrimination and sexual harassment laws. In the U.S., cyberbullying can warrant a misdemeanor cyber-harassment charge or result in a charge of juvenile delinquency. It typically can result in a child losing their ISP or IM accounts as a “terms of service” violation. In some cases, if hacking or password and identity theft is involved, it can be considered a serious criminal matter under state and federal law. In many states “sexting” or forwarding a “sext” (sexual messages) is punishable as distributing or possessing child pornography, and requires even minors to be registered as sex offenders. If an adult becomes involved, cyberbullying becomes cyber-harassment or cyber-stalking, serious criminal offenses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkzwHuf6C2U

Effects on victims Victims of Cyberbullying may experience: Anxiety Depression Low self-esteem Problems concentrating School failure/School avoidance Externalized violence Higher risk of suicide

“Crumpled Paper Lesson” started with a a teacher in New York who handed out a piece of paper to each student in her class, and then asked them to crumple it up and step on it and basically make it as barfy as possible without ripping it. After that, she asked each child to unfold their sheet, smooth it out, and try to get it to look as crisp and fresh as it did before they started the exercise. Of course everyone’s sheet of paper stayed creased and crappy. Then, the teacher asked the kids to apologize to the paper. They did, and she pointed out that even though they said they were sorry, the creases still didn’t come out, no matter how hard they tried to fix them. And that is exactly what happens when one child tears down another. You might not be able to see it on the outside, but all those crumples stay with them on the inside.

TiPS for teens dealing with cyberbullying Saving the evidence of the cyberbullying, keep abusive text messages or a screenshot of a webpage, for example, and then report them to a trusted adult, such as a family member, teacher, or school counselor. If you don't report incidents, the cyberbully will often become more aggressive. Reporting threats of harm and inappropriate sexual messages to the police. In many cases, the cyberbullies actions can be prosecuted by law. Being relentless. Cyberbullying is rarely limited to one or two incidents. It's far more likely to be a sustained attack on you over a period of time. So, like the cyberbully, you may have to be relentless and keep reporting each and every bullying incident until it stops. There is no reason for you to ever put up with cyberbullying. Preventing communication from the cyberbully, by blocking their email address, cell phone number, and deleting them from social media contacts. Report their activities to their internet service provider (ISP) or to any social media or other web sites they use to target you. The cyberbully’s actions may constitute a violation of the website’s terms of service or, depending on the laws in your area, may even warrant criminal charges.

hOW BYSTANDERS CAN HELP Things a bystander can do: Take action by posting words of support for the victim. Encourage the victim to seek help. “You are being bullied. Don’t keep what’s happening bottled up inside. Seek help from someone you trust.” Rally your friends to post comments that show support for the victim. Alert someone in authority Report what you are observing to the security team for the site you are visiting.  How might a bystander help a cyberbullying victim? Bystanders need to realize that bullying is a serious problem, and that a lack of action on their part will only give bullies more opportunities to torment their victims. Some argue that close to 50% of all bullying events stop when a bystander decides to intervene which just further shows the importance of intervening. Things a bystander can do: Take action by posting words of support for the victim. “I disagree with what’s been said.” Encourage the victim to seek help. “You are being bullied. Don’t keep what’s happening bottled up inside. Seek help from someone you trust.” Rally your friends to post comments that show support for the victim. Alert someone in authority (your teacher, parent, other adult) about what you are observing online or what is being transmitted through cell phones. Report what you are observing to the security team for the site you are visiting.  Facebook provides a number of suggestions depending upon where on the site the abusive content is located. For specific information, follow this link.

Always remember Don't blame yourself. Try to view cyberbullying from a different perspective. Don't beat yourself up. Get help. Learn to cope with stress. Spend time doing things you enjoy. Don't blame yourself. It is not your fault. No matter what a cyberbully says or does, you should not be ashamed of who you are or what you feel. The cyberbully is the person with the problem, not you. Try to view cyberbullying from a different perspective. The cyberbully is an unhappy, frustrated person who wants to have control over your feelings so that you feel as badly as they do. Don't give them the satisfaction. Don't beat yourself up. Don't make a cyberbullying incident worse by dwelling on it or reading the message over and over. Instead, delete any cyberbullying messages and focus on positive experiences. There are many wonderful things about you so be proud of who you are. Get help. Talk to a parent, teacher, counselor, or other trusted adult. Seeing a counselor does not mean there is something wrong with you. Learn to deal with stress. Finding ways to relieve stress can make you more resilient so you won't feel overwhelmed by cyberbullying. Exercise, meditation, positive self-talk, muscle relaxation, and breathing exercises are all good ways to manage the stress from cyberbullying. Spend time doing things you enjoy. The more time you spend with activities that bring you pleasure—sports, hobbies, hanging out with friends who don't participate in cyberbullying, for example—the less significance cyberbullying will have on your life.

Community resources School Social Worker Rajani Rastogi (A122) & Julianne Hadad (H127D) Teen Lifeline (602-248-TEEN (8336) • teenlifeline.org) Peer counseling suicide hotline, bullying prevention curriculum. Stop Bullying AZ (stopbullyingaz.org) Mission is to end bullying by focusing on bystanders and providing them the tools and education they need to empower them to step in or to bring awareness to specific incidents of bullying.