KEY POINTS:
Whenever new technology appears, bullies quickly take advantage of it, twisting it to intimidate and humiliate.
Cyber bullies exploit every new gadget and craze that comes along, inflicting immeasurable damage upon others.
An increasing trend has been the circulation of embarrassing video clips.
Videos have been taken of young people getting changed after their PE lessons and passed on to classmates' video iPods.
A cyber bullying epidemic is affecting New Zealand, including two high profile Northland cases.
One included a 15-year-old girl who drank household bleach and overdosed on pills as a result of cyber bullying.
The other involved a text message with graphic threats of rape and murder sent to a 13-year-old girl.
With social networking websites now being used by young children, parents are being urged to take responsibility and anticipate the pitfalls of today's technology.
Children are autonomous users of the internet by age 7 and are sometimes more computer-literate than their parents - yet many are unable to identify risk or manage it effectively - they simply don't have the cognitive skills.
As children mature it is almost impossible for parents to monitor their online network.
Looking after kids online
With education, young people can evaluate which information they can safely give out, in what circumstances and to whom. For very young children this decision needs to be made with an adults help.
Parents should assume an administrator role and create individual accounts and passwords for all family members using parental control software or controls already within the system (e.g Microsoft's Vista).
Software such as Netnanny can help but is not an end in itself.
Make sure blocking software is legitimate and doesn't include spyware.
Put the computer in the living room where it's in full view. Take a screen shot of an abusive page and copy down the web address, report it.
Snooping on young people isn't recommended.
Children will turn to each other for guidance in the absence of computer literate role models. Sometimes this peer support is helpful, but sometimes it can be very destructive (as with cyber bullying)
After four abusive text messages that haven't been replied to, Vodafone or Telecom can send a warning to the bully. If the warning isn't heeded, the bullies' SIM card can be permanently disabled.
Parents are encouraged to recognise the significance social networking has in their child's life and have an open discussion.
Parents can set limits on factors like time online and website access.
Safety advice like "don't give out your personal information online" is not a good idea. This particular rule is the best way to convince young people that you don't know what you're talking about, and that you know nothing about the online environment.
Phone 0508 NETSAFE to talk to someone about being a victim of cyber bullying.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
