REPLY TO CLASSMATE'S DISCUSSION

Much is written about how the internet has made many crimes possible. For the most part this is hype and false. There are not many “new crimes” at all, and most of these are old crimes that have been “cyberized”, that is given a certain efficiency either by scale or the possible (perceived or real) anonymity provided by the electronic medium.

Is cyber-bullying really a thing? I mean couldn’t I just not pay any attention to it? Provide support for you position.

Is predation of children really an internet thing? And is it really different in quality from the old fashion predation of children?  How do we know?  What do the reliable sources of data indicate? Be forewarned that most of the information you find about this topic online is hype, so proceed with skepticism before posting about the epidemic of exploitation of American children.

What would you say to those who contend that if you would just be a parent, know what your kids are up to, and teach them to know when someone is OK, whether the predator is in real life or electronic, things would be OK.

PLEASE REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS)

                                                    CLASSMATE'S POST

I really take bullying and cyberbullying seriously. I was bullied in high school (public) and completed high at a local private school.  I was the "unique" girl: dreadlocks (natural when it wasn't popular) in the 1990's, I didn't match my clothes and I was into different genres of music, there my predominately black high school cohorts (I'm black) felt the need to label me. It was not good until I went to private school and everyone treated me as Selena, not the different person.  Now, I the girls that teased me, they have dreadlocks in their hair. I was a trendsetter. 

What I didn't have that kids are exposed to is social media. In the 1990's the average adults didn't have a cell phone, a pager (perhaps), yet today's society is a different metric. Traditional bullying, which to me if not stopped in youth, a person grows to be an adult bully (personally and professionally).  

Commonly Reported Types Of Cyberbullying

· 19 percent of cyberbullying often entails the spreading of rumors  

· Nearly 13 percent of victimized children experience hurtful comments
 

· 72 percent of children report they are cyberbullied because of their looks  

· 26 percent of victims are chosen due to their race or religion 

· 22 percent of harassed children feel that their sexuality was the cause of the bullying 

· The National Autistic Society released that 40 percent of children with autism and and 60 percent of children with Asperger’s Syndrome report experiencing bullying- on and offline  (TeenSafe, 2018). 

 

According to Pure Sight Online Child Safety (2018), "there are 799,041 registered sex offenders and interestingly, 16% of teens are that victims, willingly went to meet with a stranger they met online" (p. #7).  What happened to the days of stranger danger? Making sure your children are comfortable enough to dialogue with you about all aspects of their life is crucial. You can "parent" your child and situations still occur. I don't like to speak much about parenting, as I'm not a parent, yet a a concerned citizen, knowing who is a child predator in your community is crucial. 

References

PureSight (2018).  Online Predators-Statistics.  http://www.puresight.com/Pedophiles/Online-Predators/online-predators- statistics.html#source3

Teensafe (2018). Cyberbullying Facts and Statistics. Retrieved from  https://www.teensafe.com/blog/cyber-bullying-facts-and-statistics/