Cyber Bullying on Social Networking Websites:

This week, November 16th - 20th, is the National Anti-Bullying week and the major theme for the 2009 campaign is "Cyber-bullying." Bullying that has been an on-going issue on school playgrounds has lead to a wider opportunity for bullying; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through various technologies. Cyber-bullying is where children and teenagers use electronic means of communication, such as text messaging, email, social networking sites, and web pages to threaten, harass, humiliate, and embarrass another peer. A 2003-04 survey conducted by i-Safe America shows 1 in 4 students have been bullied online more than once. There have been a few cases around the world in recent years where children have committed suicide instigated through cyber-bullying. The question is debated about who's responsibility is it for preventing cyber-bullying?

In the article by Katie Rock, "MySpace Suicide Sparks Debate on Cyber-Bullying Law," it is stated that social networking sites need to invest in social responsibility to prevent its users from experiencing bullying online. Sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter need to be regulated by the creators in order to protect its users. In recent news, social networking websites are being criticized to create a safe environment and play a proactive role in assuring the safety of children when using their sites. Internet analyst, Jesse Hirsh states, "there is the issue of legislation in terms of the tools for law enforcement, but there is also the responsibility of these online environments to really protect their customers."

I agree, that social networking websites have a responsibility to regulate and monitor in order to keep the young users safe from cyber-bullying. Recently Bebo, a social networking website created in 2005, adopted the help button "for children to report concerns about grooming and bullying" (BBC News, 2009). Other social networking sites have take simple measures to report abuse online, but there has been no further initiative.

It is debated that the responsibility of children's safety on social networking websites should be monitored by their parents. Parents need to be aware of what is going on in their child's life, and have open communication; playing a proactive role in their child's social life. "The First Amendment grants the freedom of speech, but parents have the authority to educate their children about acceptable behavior, both live and online," (Tammy Andrew, 2009).

In my opinion, it is right to say that it is 100% parents responsibility to make sure that their child is safe and behaving well towards others. It is up to the social networking website companies what initiatives they want to carry out, either just complying with the law or contributing more to the society by continuously improving measures to prevent such unsafe environments for young users online.

Written by: Gursatbir (Poonam) Gill

Sources:

- Katie Rock, "MySpace suicide sparks debate on cyber-bullying law." National Post, 2008.
- BBC News, "Network sites need help buttons." 2009.
- Tammy Andrew, "Cyberbullying and Freedom of Speech." Suite101, 2009.
- iSafe: Cyber Bullying: Statistics and Tips