Posts Tagged ‘facebook’

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Now Schools Are Spying on Their Students

August 14, 2011

I am in favour of schools playing a far more proactive role in dealing with cyberbullying and advocating privacy settings to protect against cyber stalkers, but spying on their students’ Facebook pages is not appropriate.

SCHOOLS are using internet monitoring companies to read what students are saying on social networking sites.

The typical service used by schools such as Ascham looks at any publicly available material posted on sites such as Facebook, Formspring and Tumblr to monitor the sometimes ferocious use of the media by young people.

 

Whilst schools often go into their shells when it comes to cyberbullying, spying on their students is an invasion of privacy.  Instead of concerning themselves with publicly available material they should work harder to ensure their students have their privacy settings on.
This measure will do precious little to stop bullying.  Bullies are much smarter than we give them credit for.  They find ways to harass away from the watchful eyes of anyone that might punish them for their crimes.
Yet whilst this will do little to prevent bullying it will make the students even more negative about school and authority in general.

 

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Cyberstalking the Worst Type of Bullying

August 9, 2011

Another reminder of the severity of falling victim to cyber bullying:

The inability to escape from the 24 hour online world and the public nature of threats posted on the internet make being bullied electronically more intense, it was claimed.

Addressing the American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention, Elizabeth Carll said: “Increasingly, stalkers use modern technology to monitor and torment their victims, and one in four victims report some form of cyberstalking, such as threatening emails or instant messaging.”

Victims may feel stress, anxiety, fear and nightmares, as well as enduring eating and sleeping difficulties, she said.

Dr Carll, of the APA Media Psychology Division, “It is my observation that the symptoms related to cyberstalking and e-harassment may be more intense than in-person harassment, as the impact is more devastating due to the 24/7 nature of online communication, inability to escape to a safe place, and global access of the information.”

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety | 1 Comment »

A Teacher’s Worst Nightmare

August 7, 2011

 

Could there be anything worse for a teacher than to be falsely accused of pedophilia?  To frame someone as a pedophile purely out of spite goes beyond all reason.

Police are hunting the creator of a fake Facebook profile that was used to impersonate a Sydney primary school teacher and frame him as a paedophile by targeting kids at his school.

The teacher, who cannot be named, is a long-time campaigner against racism online and with others he runs a blog that names and shames racists by publishing their hate-filled Facebook postings.

In a phone interview, he said he believed this is why he was targeted. He said he and his family had been harassed over the phone, received death threats and had threatening notes left in his mail box after his personal details – including his address, phone number, photos and work details – were posted on a white supremacist website.

“This Facebook profile opened up a couple of days ago with a picture of me and a friend with shirts off holding a beer … they were writing things on the wall such as ‘i’m gay and I like little boys’ and all sorts of things like that,” the teacher said in a phone interview.

“They were engaging with students – kids were commenting and they were writing back pretending to be me.”

I hope they catch the people responsible and give them prison time to reflect on their awful behaviour.

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Posted in Teacher Welfare | Leave a Comment »

What Facebook Age Restrictions?

August 4, 2011

There is age rstrictions on Facebook for a reason.  The potential outcomes when a pre-teen uses Facebook are severe enough to warrant it a 13+ age requirement.

But does that stop under age kids opening their own account?  Of course not.

Washington: Some 7.5 million of the 20 million minors who used Facebook in the past year were younger than 13, and a million of them were bullied, harassed or threatened on the site, says a study released Tuesday. Even more troubling, more than five million Facebook users were 10 years old or younger, and they were allowed to use Facebook largely without parental supervision leaving them vulnerable to threats ranging from malware to sexual predators, the State of the Net survey by Consumer Reports found.” Read the rest, here.

And this is a trend we are seeing all over the world.  As important as it is to have this age requirement, it seems too easy to sidestep it.

I believe that if Facebook really wanted to ban under 13’s from setting up accounts, they could.

But do they really want to?

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Posted in Social Media | 1 Comment »

One of the Saddest Stories of the Year

July 24, 2011

After reading an article about how students hijacked a website in memory of a girl who committed suicide, I felt angry and deflated.  What makes the story worse is she killed herself as a result of cyberbullying:

PRINCIPALS have condemned “heartless” school bullies who hijacked website pages set up in honour of a Sydney teen who committed suicide last week.

Dannii Sanders, from Castle Hill, took her life on Tuesday after she was allegedly tormented on Facebook.

But when Dannii’s devastated friends created a Facebook tribute page, the bullying continued as users flooded the page with derogatory remarks.

“Guys I can’t take all this internet bullying. I think I’ma kill myself,” mocked a user.

“Deserved it. I (laughed out loud) hard,” another wrote.

When Dannii’s friends spoke up against the bullies, posting “Let her be in peace”, one tormentor replied: “What is she gonna do though?

Read the comments and kill herself again?”

During the week at least three Facebook groups set up in Dannii’s honour were removed after pranksters posted abuse.

One group’s page called “Stop bullying NOW: In memory of Danni Sanders” was defaced with a disturbing image of the 14-year-old’s head in a noose containing the caption, “place head here”.

Sheree Vertigan, the Australian Secondary Principals Association Head, said the online onslaught was some of the most vicious she had encountered and “an example of 21st century bullying at its worst”.

She said those making inappropriate comments should face legal action as it was defamation.

Ms. Vertifan is absolutely right.  Those responsible should be charged for their defamatory words.  But we should demand that cyberbullies of all types are banned from all social media.  Cyberbullies should not have Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I’ve got a message for cyberbullies:

Look at the consequences of being bullied!  Don’t expect to get away without consequences of your own!

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Father Goes to Great Lengths To Ensure Daughter is Cyber-Safe

July 15, 2011

Father and computer expert, Bill Ramsey sets a good example for other parents concerned about what their children get up to online:

“The internet has really changed the way that children interact with the world and not always for good,” said Bill Ramsey.  He’s owns The Bill Guy Technology Solutions and is a dad.  He says you have to know who your kids are chatting with on places like Facebook.  “There are so many parents that say I don’t care that they put that stuff up there and I tell them they should.  You should care,” he said.

He cares so much, he requires his 15-year-old step daughter provide her passwords so he can access everything, including text messages.  He says she doesn’t like it but knows if she breaks the rules she’ll lose her computer privileges.  By checking her email recently, he found emails from a guy who asked she send pictures of herself.  She didn’t do it, but he says she also didn’t understand why it was a big deal.  “So what this is a person I’ll never see.  But you don’t know this.  You don’t know who this is,” he said.

Ramsey was able to find the boy who lived in Arkansas and called his parents.  He says that also shows how easy it is to track people down with information posted on-line.  The National Center for Exploited and Missing Children say one in seven youth between the ages of 10 and 17 have received a sexual solicitation on the internet.  Ramsey says that’s enough to know what your kids are up to.  “It’s not an invasion of their privacy,” he said.

Obviously Ramsey is good with computers and has an easier time keeping track on his child’s on-line activity.  But he says it’s not difficult if you put in some effort.  He says having passwords is the most helpful but it’s also good just to visit their Facebook page.  If getting a password won’t work, he says there are several software programs that offer various amounts of protection and some at a cost. 

He recommends checking out, http://www.webwatchernow.com, http://www.netnanny.com and http://www.cyberpatrol.com

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Posted in Cyber Safety, Parenting, Social Media | Leave a Comment »

Parents Join Facebook to Spy on Their Kids

July 15, 2011

Parents are clearly concerned about what their kids do on Facebook:

A survey has revealed that fully 30 per cent of British parents’ Facebook “friend” requests to their children get rejected, and that many then resort to using other people’s login details in order to keep track of their offspring’s Web-2.0 activities.

This sad commentary on the number of parents who feel able to speak to their kids as opposed to interacting with them primarily online – it would seem normal to know in advance whether a friend request to one’s nipper would be rejected, for instance – came among the results of a survey of 2,000 online Brits.

The survey revealed that among today’s digital British some 5 per cent of parents would like to monitor their kids on Facebook but don’t know how, and 55 per cent do stalk their kids online. No less than 11 per cent reported that the only reason they had a Facebook account was to keep an eye on their nippers, suggesting that in some age groups, up to a fifth of Facebook users have no real interest in the service’s putative benefits and are only there because they worry about its effects on their kids.

Indeed in many cases a Facebook user who signed up for positive reasons is not actually that person – it is a friend of theirs borrowing their login to keep tabs on their kids. Some 13 per cent of digital parents reported having done this, presumably because they couldn’t be bothered creating an account just for this purpose.

Altogether then, it would appear that 24 per cent of online Brit parents consider that the only reason to use Facebook is worry about their children. Perhaps it’s just as well that the company’s founder Mark Zuckerberg says he no longer cares about new signups.

“These figures are initially quite surprising, but since certain malicious third parties have been known to prey on unsuspecting or over trusting individuals online, it does seem as though many could have legitimate concerns,” commented Claus Villumsen of security firm Bullguard, which commissioned the survey.

I wonder if Mark Zukerberg and his Facebook team can do more to help concerned parents.

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Posted in Parenting, Social Media | Leave a Comment »

Kids Are Addicted to the Internet

July 4, 2011

If kids are addicted to internet, Facebook and Twitter, it’s not as if their parents have no options. Reading about how fearful parents are about theeffects of their children’s addictions, I couldn’t help but wonder why they felt so powerless.

A third of all UK parents believe that their children are in danger from the internet and 80 per cent think it is possible to become addicted to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, a new study suggests. It also found that a third of parents even believe that the web can “rewire” a person’s brain.

Internet charity the Nominet Trust, who commissioned the research, say there is no evidence that social networks are harmful in themselves, and that there is no neurological evidence of the web changing brains.

Facebook and Twitter, they suggested, usually in fact reinforce existing friendships, while even playing video games has been show to improve coordination and ‘visual processing skills’.

Parents can take control over their children’s internet access.  Some recommendations include:

  • Capping time on the internet
  • No internet access in their bedrooms
  • Ensuring that they do not have a Facebook page if they are under 13.
  • Imposing strict bedtimes.

If you do not hinder access to the web and have no rules or involvement in how it is used, you have something to worry about.  This addiction is very real and requires a proactive response.

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Posted in Parenting, Social Media, Technology | Leave a Comment »

The Disappointing Response to the Schoolgirl Fight Saga

June 22, 2011

Yesterday, Australians were horrified when footage surfaced of a fight between Melbourne schoolgirls.  The clip was a reminder at just how ugly bullying can be, from the violent actions of the perpetrators to the feeble and gutless innaction of the bystanders.

To watch the clip please follow this link.

To add salt to the wounds, the response by professionals, ministers and educators have been extremely disappointing.  Take this uninspiring comment from State Education Minister, Martin Dixon:

He said the department also has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying.

All schools are required to have anti-bullying and cyber bullying policies in place that students are made aware of and expected to adhere to.

This extends to appropriate mobile phone use, he said.

Government ministers often coin the expression “zero-tolerance” because it sounds good.  But what does it really mean?  I looked up the department’s so-called “zero tolerance” approach on their website.  This is what it said:

All Victorian government schools are required to include anti-bullying strategies in their Student Engagement Policy (or their Student Code of Conduct).

Schools have a duty of care to take reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable risks of injury to their students.

Does that sound like “zero-tolerance” to you?

And the standard line of schools requiring anti-bullying policies is predictable, but ultimately, it’s just pure spin.  An anti-bullying policy, as I’ve argued here countless times, is just a piece of paper designed to ward off lawsuits.  It’s to show that schools have a plan.  The plan is usually quite vague, so as to avoid instances where they might be caught out not following their plan.  It is also useless in cases where teachers and principals are unaware that bullying is taking place.  Recent incidents have shown how blind schools have been to the bullying that pervades within its walls.

And if that’s not bad enough, psychologists and the media have decided to blame Facebook for this incident. But Facebook doesn’t pull a girls hair or drag them on the ground.  Bullies create bullying behaviours, not social media.  The medium is not the real issue here.  The real issue is that bullying exists, it is absolutely unnaceptable and must be seriously dealt with.  Not by programs or policies, but by a change of mindset and culture.

The very worst response we could have garnered from this awful exhibition of bullying is, “Oh, that’s just because of Facebook.”, or “That’s as a result of an ineffective anti-bullying policy.”

How many more incidents do we need to watch before we dispense with the spin and blame game and start to see this for what it is – a complex and delicate problem that requires much more attention.

 

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Posted in Bullying | Leave a Comment »

Sickening Schoolgirl Fight Caught on Video

June 22, 2011


A terrible fight which erupted between two schoolgirls was caught on camera.  The video headlined tonight’s Channel 9 news broadcast and shows gutless bystanders just watching passively.

To watch this video follow this link.

Unfortunately we are in the age of simplistic answers to major problems.  In this case, it is not a culture of bullying that is blamed, but instead, Facebook:

BULLYING on Facebook has been blamed for a violent confrontation between two Melbourne schoolgirls caught on film by classmates unwilling to intervene.

A 14-year-old, who has remained anonymous, has told Channel 9 she was too afraid to go to school after repeated attacks by a 16-year-old girl from another school.

In the footage, recorded in February, the victim can be seen being dragged by her hair while she refuses to fight. She is then kicked in the head.

Students can be seen doing nothing to help her.

The older girl can be heard taunting her younger victim. When the victim goes to ground, the older girl says: “Just get up.”

The victim was dazed and coughing up blood.

The girl and her mother spoke out after five similar incidents in six months. The girl was terrified and unwilling to go to school or leave her family home in southeast Melbourne.

“When I leave school, if my bus isn’t there then I get petrified because my school is 30 seconds away from the station and she’s always there,” the girl said.

But she isn’t willing to give up hope that life will return to normal.

“Look, there’s always someone out there that loves you – you don’t have to feel like it’s just you – that’s how I felt for a long, long, long time,” she said.

The online jibes began in January, when it is alleged the bully posted insults on her Facebook page.

It escalated to the point where the girl claims bottles were thrown at her and threats were made towards her family.

The police became involved on Monday, but the mother of the alleged bully said there was more to the story. She blamed Facebook culture for an outbreak in bullying.

State Education Minister Martin Dixon said the department would be told to act once the police finished its inquiry.

“I was deeply appalled. … The type of behaviour shown should in no way be tolerated,” he said.

He said the department also has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying.

All schools are required to have anti-bullying and cyber bullying policies in place that students are made aware of and expected to adhere to.

This extends to appropriate mobile phone use, he said.

Facebook doesn’t create bullying incidents, bullies create bullying incidents.  This footage is horrible and the very worst conclusion we can reach is to shift the blame from bullies and passive bystanders to Facebook.  It’s almost as if people expect that if you take Facebook away bullies will stop bullying and start becoming friendly.  Hmmm …

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Posted in Bullying | Leave a Comment »

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