Overlooked: A Grassroots Approach To Combating CyberBullying — Nov 28th 2007

By Dakota Smith

Overlooked submission: "YouTube Tackles Bullying Online"
Via Propeller user: idreamed

This week's overlooked story on Propeller concerned the problem of cyberbullying. It's a timely topic, given the recent suicide of Megan Meiers, a 13-year-old Missouri teen who was duped into sending instant messages to a fictitious boy who was allegedly the mother of one of Meiers' classmates.

While the Meiers story shot to the top of the Propeller page, another story about YouTube's efforts to curb cyberbullying--defined as harassment by email, cell phone, IM, or social networking sites--received less attention. Last week, in conjunction with a UK-based group called Beatbullying, YouTube launched a new channel on the topic. Visitors can view UK and American celebrities talking about how to counter cyberbullies, and teens can submit their own related videos.

"If you can't say it to someone's face, then don't post it online," says Isaac Slade, lead singer of the Fray, a popular band from Colorado, in one of featured videos. "There's no shame in being bullied, it's not a sign of weakness...report it."

While it's not clear whether YouTube will launch a US-centric anti-bullying channel (the California-based Google subsidiary didn't return our calls by deadline), the site already has a library of videos on the topic, including a tribute video to teens who've committed suicide as a result of cyberbullying.

Among those who appear on the video is 13-year-old Ryan Patrick Halligan, an Essex Junction, Vermont teenager who committed suicide after a female classmate pretended to have a crush on him, but then mockingly passed their IM exchanges around to friends. John P. Halligan, Ryan's father, launched a web site to commemorate his son. There he writes: "It's one thing to be bullied and humiliated in front of a few kids. It's one thing to feel rejection and have your heart crushed by a girl. But it has to be a totally different experience than a generation ago when these hurts and humiliation are now witnessed by a far larger, online adolescent audience."

While there's conflicting data on the prevalence of cyberbullying, an AP story published this week noted as many as "one in three U.S. children have been ridiculed or threatened through computer messages." The harassment is just an extension of real-life bullying, which many teens likely consider an unavoidable part of adolescence. According to the AP story, "roughly 17 percent of early adolescents say they are victims of recurring verbal aggression or physical harassment."

Because of Halligan's lobbying efforts, Vermont legislatures passed a law a year after his son's death that requires bullying prevention procedures for schools, and similar legislation has passed in other states. If laws may help to curb bullying, grassroots initiatives may have the most impact. After all, Meiers' story reached the mainstream media via the blogosphere. Perhaps YouTube's new channel--and particularly the videos made by actual teens-- will bring more attention to the problem.

So far the response from YouTube users has been largely positive, with a few doubters. Writes one skeptic: "I honestly don't think that there is a way to stop bullying... I think the only way to stop bullying...possibly, is to always be with people...then you can never be alone and you wont get hurt." Another user is more supportive: "This is so important! Bullying KILLS!! We must hold the bullies accountable for what they do. I think we are doing wrong looking the other way, and do not react to the crime that is bullying."

Tags: cyberbullying, overlooked

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