[LINK] Oh, that evil Internet!

[David Goldstein]

David,

One thing you miss is the internet can be anonymous. Whereas in the playground the person being bullied knows who the bully is, with mobile phones or the internet, you don't always know who is being bullied. Anecdotal evidence suggests the problem is worse online.

David



----- Original Message ----
> From: David Boxall <david.boxall at hunterlink.net.au>
> To: Link <link at anu.edu.au>
> Sent: Thursday, 23 July, 2009 3:18:07 PM
> Subject: [LINK] Oh, that evil Internet!
> 
> 
> > A Melbourne mother has blamed her 14-year-old daughter's suicide on 
> > the internet and the tragic case has highlighted the problem of cyber 
> > bullying among young people.
> ...
> > "I can guarantee you if she didn't go on the internet Friday night 
> > she'd be alive today."
> 
> Is there really anything new here? Bullying happened long before the 
> Internet. Judging by the outcome, the victim was vulnerable. That 
> vulnerability probably would have been exploited without any "cyber" 
> component.
> 
> What's remarkable to me is the way we differentiate between physical 
> violence and other forms (social, psychological, emotional). The only 
> difference I see is that the other forms don't draw blood directly..
> 
> > ... about 10 per cent of young people reported they were being cyber 
> > bullied.
> The "cyber" part is unlikely to be all - or even most - of the bullying 
> suffered. I venture to say that this type of violence is far more 
> prevalent than the physical.
> 
> The piece recounts experiences involving a troll-bully, ending with 
> advice to ignore them. I'd point out that such psychopaths exist outside 
> the Internet, though the online environment provides a handy cloak for 
> the cowardly deviant.
> 
> > ... young people do not think adults take cyber bullying seriously.
> We tend not to take seriously anything that isn't physical. The 
> consequences are sometimes tragic.
> 
> -- 
> David Boxall                    |  Dogs look up to us
>                                 |  And cats look down on us
> http://david.boxall.name        |  But pigs treat us as equals
>                                                    --Winston Churchill
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Link mailing list
> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Access Yahoo!7 Mail on your mobile. Anytime. Anywhere.
Show me how: http://au.mobile.yahoo.com/mail