Information Addicts

One third of US online teenagers have been victims of cyber-bullying according to research by the Pew Internet Project, and girls are more likely than boys to be targets and teens who share their identities online are the most vulnerable, the survey found. Some 32% of teenagers questioned had experienced one of more of the following: having a private e-mail, IM or text messaging forwarded or posted where others could see it, the victim of an aggressive email, IM or text message, having a rumour spread about them online or having an embarrassing photograph posted online without permission. As more and more young people join social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, so they are opening themselves and their personal information up to more people. The survey found that 39% of social network users had been cyber-bullied in some way, compared to 22% of online teens who do not use social networks. The sites themselves offer new avenues for bullies, the survey found. Also in the UK last year 10% of teenagers said they had been bullied online while 24% said they knew a victim. Nikki Kerr of Kidscape said: “The whole idea of cyber-bullying is on the rise and children are using new technology to cause harm, distress and bully other children. “Sometimes it can be even worse when it happens than in the real world because it can be so anonymous, yet so many people can be a witness to it by using the internet.

How can this be stoped, as a parent or teenager do you have any idea’s on how to prevent online bullying? I would be interested to hear.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 9:20 am and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.