Cyberstalking more stressful than the physical bullyingKymberley Page

Kymberley Page — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:17:26 +0000

Cyberstalking is more stressful and traumatic than the physical bullying, claims a new study.

Online harassment, also known as cyber bullying or cyberstalking, is the use of the internet or other electronic means to threaten or harass an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization.

Also called e-harassment, it can cause depression and even lead to suicide by those who feel scared or traumatized.

Online bullying more traumatic
In a research it has been found that online stalking can make a person more stressful and traumatic than being bullied in person.

Scientists from the American Psychological Association claim that being bullied electronically can cause intense stress that may be worse than being harassed in real life.

In their research, the experts found that four out of 10 women have suffered electronic harassment after dating online, which includes harassing text messages and disturbing information about them on social media sites, and 20 percent of online stalkers use social networking to stalk their victims.

Elizabeth Carll, PhD, who heads the media division of the American Psychological Association (APA), presented the findings about the impact of cyberbullying on mental health in a talk entitled, 'Electronic Harassment and Cyberstalking: Intervention, Prevention and Public Policy.'

“Increasingly, stalkers use modern technology to monitor and torment their victims. One in four victims report some form of cyberstalking, such as threatening e-mails or instant messaging,” she said.

Majority victims are female
Citing statistics from the U.S. Justice Department, Carll stated that some 850,000 adults, mainly female, are the targets of cyberstalking in America each year.

In their research, the experts found that four out of 10 women have suffered electronic harassment after dating online, which includes harassing text messages and disturbing information about them on social media sites, and 20 percent of online stalkers use social networking to stalk their victims.

"It is my observation that the symptoms related to cyberstalking and e-harassment may be more intense than in-person harassment, as the impact is more devastating due to the 24/7 nature of online communication, inability to escape to a safe place, and global access of the information," Carll added.

2009 study findings
The talk followed the findings of a research that was carried out in 2009, and that showed 36 percent of students at schools in South Korea had been bullied online at least once in the previous year.

The students, 405 of whom were girls, were from Seoul and the Keonggi area of South Korea, age 12 to 19.

All the study subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire about their experiences with cyberbullying.

Presenter YeoJu Chung of South Korea's Kyungil University, stated, "The results revealed that cyberbullying makes students socially anxious, lonely, frustrated, sad and helpless," said presenter

Chung added, "Lots of adolescents have trouble recovering from negative effects of cyberbullying.

"We can help them use emotion regulation skills to recover, rather than become bullies themselves."

Carll believes that using the modern technology we can fight cyberbullies back. “The same technologies used to harass can also be used to intervene and prevent harassment,” she concluded.

CyberSafety Report Released – Where’s The Outrage?admin

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:13:55 +0000

After a yearlong study, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University has issued a report on “Enhancing Child Safety & Online Technologies”. There are many news articles coming out this week from a variety of sources.

Like this one from the Associated Press, ANICK JESDANUN, http://tinyurl.com/NotTechnologyAlone , Anick explains that technology alone is not the answer and many other articles state that parent involvement is the number one deterrent to children practicing safe behaviors on the internet but what is missing from this report and the accompanying articles is EDUCATION.

Here is what our founder said today after reading the report:

“Everyone in the industry agrees that there is no fool-proof technology that 100% protects minors from inappropriate content, predators and cyber-bullying online,” says Greg Writer, CEO of the Children’s Educational Network. “However, parents and children have access to tools and educational content that creates a safer browsing experience on the Web. As a society we need to take charge and motivate children to become empowered and informed Internet citizens. Education is the solution. We need to take a page from the State of Virginia’s book and enact legislation that will implement mandatory Internet safety curriculum in schools nationwide.”

So far, only the State of Virginia has mandated Internet Safety Education into their curriculum and only Children’s Educational Network provides technology along with parent and child education. Where is the outrage? Educate to protect, that’s the solution! That’s what this study says without saying it, and without mandating it.

ClubTUKI.com

Children’s Educational Network has been a leader in the industry for years by combining education with our cutting edge technology to protect and educate children on the internet. We have found that it’s best to get to the kids directly so we have focused our efforts toward the children by creating a patented rewards engine tied to educational games.

Kids play our educational games and earn a virtual currency, TUKI Moola, that they can then use in our TUKI auction, to purchase real prizes, like Nintendo Wii’s, IPod’s, etc. We work hard at getting and keeping the kids interested enough to keep coming back to learn and play more.

But again, parent involvement is key. You may be asking yourself, “What can I do”? You may be saying “My seven year old knows more than I do about computers! How can I teach him?” Here are some tips to help:

• Keep an open dialogue with your kids – make them feel comfortable about coming to you with inappropriate situations.

• Create your own profiles on the kid’s social networking sites. Have the kid’s help you create your profile and make it a family affair.

• Check in on your kid’s profiles on a regular basis, post comments on their pages letting them and their friends know that you do check up on the profile.

• Watch the videos on internet safety at sites like http://www.netsmartz.org or www.webwisekids.com.

• Utilize the free technology that is out there like our Kid Safe Browser available at www.internetsafetyforchildren.com

• Talk with your kids about what “private” information is and why they should not share this information.

• Explain the long term consequences of posting inappropriate information, photos, comments, etc.

• Remind them that once it is on the internet it takes on a life of its own and you no longer have control over who can or cannot see it.

Parents, educators, advocates, grandparents, the media and the like are paramount to protecting our children online. We have to do a better job at educating our youth on safe internet practices.

Kid Safe » cyber safety report

Cyberstalking more stressful than the physical bullyingKymberley Page

CyberSafety Report Released – Where’s The Outrage?admin