No Bullying on Facebook
In recent months, bullying has been getting a lot of attention. The suicides due to this abuse has come to the forefront and many have spoken out including celebrities.
The Trevor Project was born and candlelight vigils are held in honor of these suicides due to the abuse of the LGBT community. Now the most popular social network Facebook has jumped on the bandwagon.
Recently, Facebook along with Safety Web have devised an application called “Find Help,” which helps in detecting any abuse of peers occurring on the site. Not only can cyber bullying be reported, but so can depression, suicide, drug abuse, hate, runaways, LBGT problems and more. There are also more organizations that are helping including the National Center for Missing Exploited Children's CyberTipline.
According to a report in a local paper, one Milwaukee parent with teens said, "I think this is a great idea. A lot of kids are getting bullied on Facebook, and to have the option making one click and getting support is going to benefit someone somewhere."
Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said, "It is important that kids using Facebook and other social media be aware of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline and have access to a tool that makes it easy to report incidents to us."
I am glad to see that Facebook has taken this initiative. I speak to parents daily about this problem online. Teens do not always see that their behavior has consequences and that placing something online can be seen by anyone in cyberspace. Nor do they always understand that words can really affect another person and harshly.
Social sites are a way of life now and if they are used they should be used responsibly. If that cannot happen then consequences should be in place. Next time maybe the bully will be a lot more careful when posting on these pages or in general.
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