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SALT LAKE CITY — Officials at the Granite School District are trying to help parents spot and prevent cyberbullying before it happens to their child.
Bullying has more ways of manifesting itself than it did a generation ago. Why? Are kids just meaner now than they were before? Granite School District Communications Specialist Angie Manzanares doesn't think so.
"It's not necessarily that they're more mean-spirited," she said. "There are just different ways in which they can be mean-spirited."
Manzanares says many kids don't come forward when they're being bullied in any way, whether it's online or in person. Some kids may not realize how bad the problem is until a fight starts. So, she says parents need to talk about it with their children.
- Keep your home computer(s) in easily viewable places.
- Talk regularly with your child about on-line activities he or she is involved in.
- Talk specifically about cyber bullying and encourage your child to tell you immediately if he or she is a victim.
- Encourage your child to tell you if he or she is aware of others who may be the victims of such behavior.
- Explain that cyber bullying is harmful and unacceptable behavior. Outline your expectations for responsible online behavior.
- Tell your child that you may review his or her on-line communications if you think there is reason for concern.
- Consider installing parental control filtering software and/or tracking programs, but don't rely solely on these tools.
"Even if it hasn't been brought up, I think they need to sit down and say, ‘This is what it looks like. This is what can happen,'" Manzanares said.
But, since it looks so different than face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying may be tricky to spot. It may be when someone sends threatening or vulgar materials to the person they're trying to intimidate. Or, it could be when the bully posts sensitive or private information about their victim online.
"Now, I think a lot of kids just, because it's not face-to-face, think they can hide behind a computer or they can hide behind a cell phone. I think they're a little [braver] that way and feel like they can just say what they want to," Manzanares said.
How widespread is cyberbullying? Manzanares cited information from the U.S. Department of health saying 18 percent of students between sixth and eighth grades say they've experienced it at least once in the past couple of months. Plus, twice as many children between the ages of 10 and 17 say they've experienced cyberbullying in 2005 than in 2000.
Manzanares says the district is trying to reach out to student about being bullied.
"We have bully boxes where kids can write down their problems and they can drop them anonymously in the box or they can schedule a time to meet with a counselor," she said.
Plus, they have counselors that lecture students about this growing problem.
