Dealing with cyberbullies

By Jeanne Kohl-Welles

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

These words were never true when Baby Boomers uttered them decades ago on playgrounds across America, and are no more true now.

Instead, there are even more ways for today’s youth to intimidate each other, thanks to cell phones and the Internet.

In classrooms and in bedrooms, teens text-message each other with an ease that amazes their parents. Yet used maliciously, the technology that brings friends and families together can also deeply wound.

Cyberbullying – the use of e-mail, instant messaging, Web sites, camera phones and the like to torment someone – is on the rise. And with more children using this technology –and at an increasingly younger age – the problem shows no signs of abating.

This is why I introduced Senate Bill 5849 last session. It adds electronic acts to the definition of bullying, intimidation and harassment. Under current law, school districts are required to have policies prohibiting such behavior toward a student. The legislation would require that the policy include information on the seriousness of cyberbullying and the options that are available if a student is being so bullied.

And many students are. A study was recently conducted by I-Safe America, an organization that promotes Web safety. Of the 1,500 students in fourth through eighth grade who were surveyed, 42 percent said they had been bullied online. And 53 percent ’fessed up to saying something mean or hurtful online. A majority – 58 percent – had not told their parents that something upsetting had happened to them online.

The anonymity of cyberspace is a powerful attraction for youth. Not having to take responsibility for caustic comments lulls the aggressor into thinking that there will be no repercussions. With estimates that up to half of the children online are there without parental supervision, the boundaries of good taste and appropriate language aren’t necessarily being learned.

The 24/7 nature of the Internet means that youth can be victimized at any time – and anonymously at that. While it’s hard enough to face your tormentor on the playground or in the lunchroom, imagine not knowing who to confront when nasty words or vile rumors are spread about you.

One of the most compelling letters I have received as a legislator came from a mother in Virginia. She wrote that her teenage daughter had been the victim of cyberbullying for the previous three months, when several of her former girlfriends began posting malicious and hateful comments on a Web site. Meetings with the school district brought no results. Even reports filed with the police department were futile. The mother shared that her daughter “has been told to move, that no one wants her here and that everyone hates her.” As a mother myself, my heart ached when I read that she was seeking emergency professional assistance that day for her daughter who had started voicing suicidal thoughts. She asked me to send her a copy of my bill to give to her own legislators.

No one should be victimized as this girl was. She was fortunate to have loving and concerned parents to advocate for her and to seek help. But there are others who have no one to turn to and so are left to suffer in silence. Their self-esteem eroded, their sense of personal safety violated, these young people often struggle in school and at home while they are victimized.

Last year, a high school student from Thurston County who was serving as a Senate page told me of having received e-mail death threats. Another student had viewed her Web site and sent the threatening messages anonymously. She filed a complaint with her local police department and the threats stopped. In addition to being extremely disturbing, the experience took considerable time to resolve – time that a teenager should be spending with friends and studying, not with law enforcement.

We can and should address this problem. By requiring our schools to include cyberbullying among the forms of harassment that schools must address through policies, we can educate our youth about its insidious effects. Just as bullies in the hallway must be stopped, so should those who use electronic means to torment others.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle
36th Legislative District

Sen. Kohl-Welles is a member of the Senate Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee. She also serves as chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee.

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