As we all know, cyber bullying is a serious problem amongst our nations youth today. It takes the problem of abuse by peers to a whole other dimension. A place that adults today never had to visit. Recently, I learned of two different sites here online that enable online safety for children and also, a place to anonymously report any bullying both on and offline.
A couple by the name of Deborah and Steven Schechner founded a website called Safe Wave. Safe Wave is a site that is set up for children to go online and not have to deal with any cyber bullying by their peers. They require signature on documents for parents and children to sign and agree NOT to cyber bully or bring any other danger on the site. Also, they have a verification process which goes through the school of the child to make sure this child who is applying is who she says she is. Children are learning to use the internet everyday and in learning, we want them to have a place to go that is safe without worrying about bullies around the corner. There is so much on here that brings danger and many kids have encountered them as some have taken their lives as a result. Also, the site welcomes law enforcement which I think it great. These are people who need to be on top of this problem more than anyone.
A Bingham Young student by the name of Justin Berenger created a site based in Utah entitled Schooltipline. This site takes anonymous reports by students of bullying and abusive situations both off and online. Each report is taken seriously and reported to the school in which the complaint is being made. As many children fear being labeled “snitches” and a lot of times do not want to “rat anyone out”, they feel much better reporting without anyone finding out that they are doing the reporting. I am grateful for this young man to step up and see that others are safe from this problem. Many times this abuse does go unreported because kids fear repercussions from these bullies. Or, as stated before, do not want to be known as someone who rats others out. There is a huge difference in reporting what should be considered criminal behavior and ratting someone out. I hope with this site, the bullying will be handled by the school personnel in an expedient manner and taken more seriously.
I commend both websites for taking action against this problem. I wish them both much success in their endeavors. It is good to see folks out there who are doing the right thing for a change. Lets keep these safe havens going. Our children deserve it.
Resources Cited:
http://www.safewave.org http://www.schooltipline.comElizabeth Bennett is the author of Peer Abuse Know More! Bullying From A Psychological Perspective and resides in Los Angeles, California. To learn more, visit http://www.peerabuse.info .
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3 users commented in " Reporting and Avoiding Cyberbullying: Safe Havens Online "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackCyberbullying is a real problem today, to be sure. Helping kids have a sense of accountability for what they do and see online is an important thing for a parent to model for their children.
Have you heard of accountability software? Check out this post for more info: http://www.covenanteyes.com/blog/2008/06/12/is-filtering-all-there-is-introducing-accountability-software/
There is another resource for parents: monitoring software. Tools like our PC Pandora will let parents know if their child is the victim of cyberbullying. As you mentioned, often kids don’t want to tell they are victims. Also, if the parent happens to have a bully in their home, hopefully the software will show them what their child is doing to their peers and trigger a lightbulb in the brain to put a stop to it. It’s up to parents to teach their kids how to behave in society and act as responsible cyber citizens in this internet age. But without the knowledge of what is happening in their child’s life (let’s be honest, do your kids tell you anything?), how can a parent do their job in the 21st century? Check us out at http://www.pcpandora.com. Whether you chose our software or someone else’s, the bottom line is that you need to know what your kids are doing online and you need to be a parent. Take back control. The current young generation is lost – help show them the way.
A safe social network such as this is an excellent idea. Software can not verify a child’s identification nor can it monitor uploads. Making CERTAIN I know who my child is talking to is priority. There can be no imposter profiles on this page because of verification of identification. My son was the victim of an imposter profile that lead to cyber bullying. Had the other social site verified the users identification, my child would not have gone through hell. Just installing filters or software would have been no help. Safewave and iland5 are the way to go. Truly protecting children. Check it out. http://www.iland5.com and http://www.safewave.org. As far as needing to be a parent goes, my child wasn’t even on the internet, how about be a parent and put them on a site that is predator free and cyber bullying controlled and even has educational benefits.
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