[LINK] Oh, that evil Internet!

[Leah Manta]

At 06:18 23/07/2009, David Boxall wrote:
><http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/23/2633775.htm>
> > 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.

The problem is not so much that bullying existed before the 
internet.  It is that now one gets bullied at 'school' or 'work', 
comes home to find respite, a new personality, goes online, and get 
sbullied as well.

End result - the world is an awful place, why live in it.

15 years ago I didn't get bullied on the Internet, today if I go into 
a chatroom I'll be called a Bigot, to quote a user who incited an 
entire chatroom to bully me "because you are too intelligent"  His 
explanation was that intelligence is bigoted.

People are incredibly aggressive on the Internet today.  Even on 
Twitter, I've been involved in a rather amazing Publicity stunt by a 
black fellow in New York who has been bullying and calling a well 
known personality Racist for saying "in my experience and observation 
Black people are fun and free"

Sadly people have their, I guess one could call, fears, and they 
amplify them in order to get attention, often in the wrong manner, 
and often doing more damage to their cause.

Certainly I find racism to be very limited and usually only more for 
social entertainment with the supposed 'victim' joining the comments, 
no different to friends calling each other silly names - it's affectionate.

I have rarely experienced or observed any form of even mild racism, 
but it does happen.

But that is only one form of bullying.  Young teens have very poor 
supervision by parents who allow them to socialize unsupervised, and 
rarely do parents talk to their children about their daily experiences.

The result is, when children are involved in peer groups where an 
alpha personality is using a weaker personality, or even just someone 
with a different point of view, to bring about attention.  Then 
others who want to "gain status" join in and very soon you have 5, 
10, 20 kids bullying 1 or 2 others.

Parents aren't seeing this and saying "Johnny you that boy/girl is 
not hurting you or even playing with you, why are you calling them a 
slut/gay/whatever"

Worse too, parents of bullied children are often incapable, or 
ignorant, or maybe just stupidly careless, to see that their child is 
in dire.  I find it amazing that parents will let under 15's happily 
go off on their own for hours on end without any supervision or observation.

I often have children in the local area come to me for "protection" 
from bullies, because I'm very visible in the area.  When I've asked 
what their parents are doing, the answer is usually the same "Oh at 
home drinking/gambling/with new boyfriend"  *sigh*

It's sad.  Very sad.

Even when I come home I get asked by my partner "Who'd you meet 
today?  What did you talk about? Any good meetings?  Anything not so good?"


It really is all about communications.  There very much is a 'class' 
separation, both in the real world and online.  there are 
differences, but it's harder online today to integrate into social 
circles.  Even harder today to actually meet people that are online.