Tech-savvy parents can help put the boot into cyber bullies
3:52PM
Wednesday April 09, 2008
By Andre Hueber
A screenshot from the videogame Bully. Internet and text 'cyber bullying' is out of control in some NZ schools.
Whenever new technology appears, bullies quickly take advantage of it, twisting it to intimidate and humiliate.
Cyber bullies exploit every new gadget and craze that comes along, inflicting immeasurable damage upon others.
An increasing trend has been the circulation of embarrassing video clips.
Videos have been taken of young people getting changed after their PE lessons and passed on to classmates' video iPods.
A cyber bullying epidemic is affecting New Zealand, including two high profile Northland cases.
One included a 15-year-old girl who drank household bleach and overdosed on pills as a result of cyber bullying.
The other involved a text message with graphic threats of rape and murder sent to a 13-year-old girl.
With social networking websites now being used by young children, parents are being urged to take responsibility and anticipate the pitfalls of today's technology.
Children are autonomous users of the internet by age 7 and are sometimes more computer-literate than their parents - yet many are unable to identify risk or manage it effectively - they simply don't have the cognitive skills.
