Cyberbullying in middle school can be prevented. Tips for parents, students and teachers about how to identify and prevent bullying at school.
Picture this! Before the school day starts a friend takes your picture with her new camera phone and sends it to a few people.
- After school a few of the people who received your picture decide to add it to a MySpace page.
- Later that evening, a bully at your school visits the MySpace page and downloads your picture, with the intent of adding a few extra features before printing an enlarged version and posting it on the school walls the next morning.
- Within 24 hours your once innocent looking face is now plastered across the internet and arriving in everyone’s email inbox.
- Cyberbullying has become the preferred method of intimidation for many bullies in middle school and high school. Bullies can hide behind the cover of a friend’s cell phone or an anonymous internet connection and threaten their victims without fear of getting caught.
- Take extreme caution when allowing anyone to take your picture. If you see your picture on the internet, tell your parents immediately. Your safety is the number one priority.
Close friends shared this story with me in the days following the end of their son’s 7th grade year.
- “His (Ryan’s) cell phone kept ringing. We asked, ‘Who keeps calling you?’ The phone continued to ring until, I (Ryan’s mom) picked it up to check the incoming call number. I was shocked by what I heard. The caller spewed forth a seemingly endless number of racial slurs, gang affiliations and physical threats. After abruptly hanging up on the caller I waited a few minutes, I redialed the number only to be met by the voice mail and a child’s voice much different than the one that had called moments ago. The message I left was simple, ‘Tell your mother that she needs to come with you to the principal’s office tomorrow morning. This is going to end.’ Afterwards, his dad and I talked with Ryan about the call and came to find out he had been getting threatening phone calls for the past four months. Essentially, he left for school every morning scared about the possibility that someone might try to hurt him."
The good newsabout Ryan’s story is his parents found out about the bullying and abruptly stopped it by contacting the school principal, who in turn contacted the police. Both the bully and the boy who owned the phone were held in a juvenile detention center until the severity of the threats could be confirmed.
Facts about Bullying Prevention
- Most bullying cases go unnoticed and unreported by parents and schools because the victims rarely tell anyone until the bullying reaches a point of extreme physical or emotional pain.
- When bullying reaches the breaking point for victims the results can be disastrous as we have seen in junior highs and high schools across the country.
- Whether bullies find their way into a victim’s life on the phone or in person their abusive actions need to stop. If you hear about bullying at your school stop by the front office and report it to the principal or a school counselor.
The copyright of the article Cyberbullying Prevention Tips in Middle School Life is owned by Joe Bruzzese. Permission to republish Cyberbullying Prevention Tips in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
