Online bullying compels states to act

(Last year the daughter of a friend of the family committed suicide due to online bullying. She was a cheerleader and good student in High school and active in extra-curricular events.)

Critics question whether legislation can curb kids' bad behavior
Feb 21, 2007

Ryan Patrick Halligan was bullied for months online. Classmates sent the 13-year-old Essex Junction, Vt., boy instant messages calling him gay. He was threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly by so-called cyberbullies. In 2003, Ryan killed himself.

“He just went into a deep spiral in eighth grade. He couldn’t shake this rumor,” said Ryan’s father, John Halligan, who became a key proponent of a state law that forced Vermont schools to put anti-bullying rules in place. He’s now pushing for a broader law to punish cyberbullying — often done at home after school — and wants every other state to enact laws expressly prohibiting it.

States from Oregon to Rhode Island are considering crackdowns to curb or outlaw the behavior in which kids taunt or insult peers on social Web sites like MySpace or via instant messages. Still, there is some disagreement over how effective crackdowns will be and how to do it.

‘The kids are forcing our hands’

(Note: Maybe a Computers and Internet sub-forum for such related threads?)

[Martin]

Thats ridiculous. Whatever happened to common sense?

What is commonly understood as common sense to adults is not fully developed in teens due to lack of life experiences.

Common sense is mostly derived from personal experience, a trial and error process so to speak, rather than something someone is extrinsically taught.

One environmental factor that doesn't help is the societal construct of 'instant gratification'. Rather than developing an attitude of 'let's wait and see how things work out', teens often expect a quick resolution to problems. If it doesn't work out that way, then to some it's the end of the world.

[waltky]

It should be a felony if it results in death...

Missouri city makes Internet harassment a misdemeanor
Friday, November 23, 2007 - City officials unanimously passed a measure making online harassment a crime, days after learning that a 13-year-old girl killed herself last year after receiving cruel messages on the Internet.

The six-member Board of Aldermen made Internet harassment a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a US$500 (euro338) fine and 90 days in jail. Mayor Pam Fogarty said the city had proposed the measure after learning about Megan Meier's death. "It is our hope that by supporting one of our own in Dardenne Prairie, we can do our part to ensure this type of harassing behavior never happens again, anywhere," Fogarty said, adding, "after all, harassment is harassment regardless of the mechanism or tool."

Several dozen people broke into applause after the measure was passed. Authorities have said they could not find a crime to charge anyone with in the case of Meier, who thought she had met a good-looking 16-year-old boy on the social networking site MySpace last year. But he began sending her mean messages and others joined in, her family said, and then he abruptly ended their friendship. Megan hanged herself within minutes of receiving the last messages on Oct. 16, 2006, and died the next day.

Megan's parents, Ron and Tina Meier, learned about six weeks after Megan's death that the boy, Josh Evans, was not real. The boy was created by a mother down the street who wanted to know what Megan was saying about her own daughter, who had had a falling out with Megan. Her father said he found a message from Josh, which he said law enforcement authorities have not been able to retrieve. It told the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her, he has said.

The four-page measure defines both harassment and cyber-harassment, essentially making it illegal to engage in a pattern of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to suffer "substantial emotional distress," or for an adult to contact a child under 18 in a communication causing a reasonable parent to fear for the child's well-being. City attorney John Young said constitutionally protected activity would be exempt. The measure would apply when one of the people communicating was in Dardenne Prairie.

MORE

[waltky]

Bullying causes depression...

Bullying harms kids' mental health
Wed., Feb. 6, 2008 - In identical twin study, targeted kids more likely to develop depression

A new study provides strong evidence that being bullied can cause children to develop depression and anxiety. Among identical twin pairs in which one experienced bullying between the ages of 7 and 9 and the other did not, the bullied twin was significantly more likely to have symptoms of internalizing problems at age 10, Dr. Louise Arsenault of King’s College, London, and her colleagues found.

Internalizing problems are psychological problems in which negativity is directed inward toward the self, such as depression, as opposed to outwardly, such as conduct disorder. This research “really supports the assumption or the belief that being bullied is bad for children’s health,” Arsenault told Reuters Health. And the fact that children were having these symptoms, which include frequent crying, fear of being alone, and stomach aches — at such a young age strongly suggests that they need help, she added.

Bullied children are known to be more likely to have anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide, as well as to experience social isolation, Arsenault and her team note in their report. But the question of whether bullying itself is the cause of these mental health problems remains open. It’s possible, the researchers explain, that bullying and mental health problems stem from the same risk factors, such as living in a poor neighborhood or parental neglect, or even that a child with mental health problems is more likely to draw bullies’ attention.

To investigate, Arsenault and her team looked at 1,116 twin pairs from a nationally representative sample of twins born in England and Wales between 1994 and1995. By looking at twins, Arsenault explained, they were able to account for the effect of family situation and environment, which could contribute to both bullying risk and the likelihood of having internalizing problems, because the twins share the same family background and the same environment.

More Bullying harms kids' mental health - Kids and parenting - MSNBC.com

[waltky]

Hope they throw the book at her...

US 'cyber-bully' mother indicted
Friday, 16 May 2008 - A US woman whose daughter's friend committed suicide after she allegedly bullied her on MySpace is indicted by a Grand Jury.

Lori Drew, 49, allegedly posed as a boy on the website to befriend Megan Meier, 13, who hanged herself after he broke off the virtual relationship. Ms Drew denies creating the profile on the social networking website and sending messages to Meier. She faces four charges, each carrying a maximum 5-year prison term.

Meier, a neighbour of Ms Drew in St Louis, Missouri, took her own life in October 2006. It is alleged that she killed herself after receiving several cruel messages, including one purporting to be from the fictitious 16-year-old boy - named Josh Evans saying the world would be better off without her.

Ms Drew faces charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorisation to inflict emotional distress. "Any adult who uses the internet or a social gathering website to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realise that their actions can have serious consequences," said Los Angeles federal prosecutor Thomas O'Brien, who brought the charges.

Dean Steward, a lawyer representing Drew in the federal case, told the Associated Press a legal challenge to the charges was planned. "We thought when prosecutors in St Louis looked at the case and all the facts, it was clear no criminal acts occurred," he said. MySpace issued a statement saying it "does not tolerate cyberbullying" and was cooperating fully with the US attorney.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US 'cyber-bully' mother indicted

[waltky]

Internet freedom doesn't include the right to harass and bully...

Mo. lawmakers vote to bar cyber harassment
Fri., May. 16, 2008 - Bill, a response to teenager's suicide, now goes to the governor

Responding to the suicide of a Missouri teenager who was teased over the Internet, state lawmakers Friday gave final approval to a bill making cyber harassment illegal. The bill updates state laws against harassment to keep pace with technology by removing the requirement that the communication be written or over the telephone. Supporters say the bill will now cover harassment from computers, text messages and other electronic devices.

It was approved 106-23 in the House and 34-0 in the Senate and now goes to the governor. Many of the bill's provisions came from a special gubernatorial task force that studied Internet harassment after the media last fall reported on the details of Megan Meier's suicide. Police say the 13-year-old St. Charles County girl hanged herself in 2006 after being teased on a social networking Web site.

A neighborhood mother, her 18-year-old employee and 13-year-old daughter are accused of creating a fake profile of an attractive teenage boy to determine what Meier was saying about the daughter online. The mother, Lori Drew, 49, was indicted in California on Thursday on federal counts of conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the teen. An attorney for Drew said a legal challenge is being planned.

More Lawmakers vote to bar cyber harassment - Internet - MSNBC.com

See also:

Sex offenders hit with Internet law...

Sex offenders accused of social networking use
May. 16, 2008 - New Jersey suspects arrested after allegedly surfing MySpace, Facebook

Three convicted sex offenders have been arrested in New Jersey after allegedly surfing social networking Web sites. They are believed to be the first charged under a new law restricting their use of the Internet, authorities said Friday. State police set up accounts on MySpace and Facebook, posing as teenagers to monitor the sex offenders, Lt. Joseph Furlong said, but he wouldn't elaborate. The suspects did not seem to be behaving improperly online, "but they are not allowed to be on there doing anything," he said.

The law adopted in January restricts Internet use for convicted sex offenders who used a computer to help commit their original sex crime, such as trying to lure a potential victim with electronic correspondence. The law also may be applied to paroled sex offenders under lifetime supervision, but exempts computer work done as part of a job or search for employment. Violators can face up to 18 months in prison. Last year, the state Parole Board also adopted a rule prohibiting sex offenders under supervision them from using the Internet to socialize or use social networking sites.

All three of the men charged — Pietro Parisi, 24, of Westville; Felice Black, 24, of Paterson; and Stanton Ulmer, 32, of Neptune — had underage victims in their original crimes and all are listed as moderate-risk sex offenders. Of the three, a judge had required only Parisi to be listed on the publicly available database of sex offenders.

Computers, Web camera seized