Is Your Child a Victim of Cyber Bullying?

Is your child the victim of bullying? How about cyber bullying? Do you know what cyber bullying is? A child being bullied is not a new occurrence, but it seems these days that it is only getting worse. Social media has made it possible for regular bullies to go online and ruthlessly harass their victims.

Recently in The Colony, Texas (near Dallas) a 9 year old boy hung himself in his schools bathroom. He died. It is not known if he was a victim of bullying, though it is suspected. It is shocking that any 9 year old would even consider taking their own life, let alone planning it out and doing it in a public school the way this young man seemed to have done.

Most of us have heard of the case of the Freshman high school student who hung herself after being relentlessly bullied and taunted by what she thought was a teenage boy on MySpace. That teenage boy turned out to be a grown woman who perpetrated the cruelty on the young girl. However, the person cyber bullying a kid, maybe your kid, is usually another pre-teen or teenager.

In this day and age, kids are on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Instant Messaging programs online. Many have cell phones and they receive and send out multiple text messages. Most parents do not pay enough attention to what their child is looking at on their cell phones and computers. Your child may be a victim of cyber bullying or may very well be a perpetrator of cyber bullying without you knowing.

It is illegal to threaten and harass people online, but most kids do not know that and they are hesitant to tell their parents when they are being picked on. Children and teens all over the country have been the victims of cyber bullying and have felt helpless because of it.

According to dosomething.org, girls are about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyber bullying. One 16 year old girl, who will remain anonymous due to her age, told the Kaufman County Crime Examiner, "Other girls are so mean. They will trash your reputation at school and then go online and post horrible messages about girls (and sometimes guys) that they don't like. They try to ruin your life and it leaves you feeling so angry and helpless."

If you think your child is the victim of cyber bullying, please contact your local police department and report it immediately. Keep all posts, messages, texts and emails from the suspect, to show the police. Talk to your kids and let them know that cyber bullying and any type of bullying is not ok. Let them know that they can and should come to you if they are being harassed.

(I originally published this on examiner.com as the Kaufman County Crime Examiner)

Source: Kaufman County Crime Examiner
Dallas Morning News