Yet Another Facebook Hate Page
Recently another Facebook cyberbullying page created solely to insult other kids reared it’s ugly head. Older pages like “Whimsical Girls of FBISD”, a page where students bashed other students that included a naughty list and a want to be naughty list, and “Evanston Rats” were deactivated. Now the latest of these, “SouthRiver Insults”, was also taken down by Facebook after pressure from parents. The comments on these pages could make your hair curl. The harm these pages can cause can be enormous and long lasting, way beyond the page deactivation date.
Hiding behind a screen without supervision is empowering to the anonymous cyberbully. Justin Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center in Wisconsin said, “There are some kids who say things online that they would never say … in the real world.” One sixteen-year-old girl gives herself permission to say mean things online, “You don’t have to say it to a person. You don’t have to see their reaction or anything, and it’s like you’re talking to a computer screen so you don’t see how you’re hurting them. You can say whatever you want, because you’re home and they can’t do anything.”
Cyberbullying hurts!
This online cyberbullying can be stopped, when parents are paying attention and monitoring their children online. Michele Borba, psychologist and parenting expert says parents need to monitor their kids online to keep them safe. “When kids know their parents are monitoring their off or online actions they are less likely to engage in risky behavior.” When kids know your checking they are far less likely to post a nasty comment and cyberbully.
Kids will continue to create these pages to hurt others unless parents step up, monitor and teach their kids appropriate online behavior. If not parents, who? If not now, when?
