1. Cyber Bullying
i-SAFE America Inc.
5963 La Place Court Ste. 309 Carlsbad, CA 92008 Tel: (760) 603-7911 www.isafe.org
Beware of the Cyber Bully
The i-SAFE America re- refuge from bullies on the keep telling them until they
search team has discovered school playground is over. take action.
a disturbing trend—cyber The Internet is the new play- • Never open, read or re-
bullying has affected more ground, and there are no off spond to messages from cy-
than half the students sur- hours. The popularity of in- ber bullies.
veyed, on both sides of the stant messaging, e-mail, • If it is school related, tell
issue. Their latest assess- webpages, and blogging your school. All schools have
ments surveyed more than means kids are a target 24 bullying solutions.
1500 students ranging from hours per day, seven days a
• Do not erase the mes-
fourth to eighth grade across week. Even worse, i-SAFE
sages. They may be needed
the country. found out 58 percent of kids
to take action.
They found out: have not told their parents or
any adult about something • If bullied through chat or
• 58% of kids admit some- mean or hurtful that had hap- IM, the bully can often be
pened to them online. blocked.
one has said mean or hurtful
things to them online Teachers and school offi- • If you are threatened with
• 53% of kids admit having cials need to be aware of the harm, call the police.
said something mean or rising trend of cyber bullying
as incidents online are Above all, students are the
hurtful things to another
brought onto school grounds. cure to the cyber bullying
online
i-SAFE offers these tips epidemic. By speaking out
• 42% of kids have been and telling adults they can
to share with students who
bullied while online stop bullying online and
are being cyber bullied:
The tradition of home as a • Tell a trusted adult and make the Internet experience
a more positive one.
Cyber Bullying: Breaking It Down
Cyber Bullying is verbal harassment that occurs during online activities.
Cyber Bullying can take many forms. These are a few:
• A threatening e-mail
• Nasty instant messaging session
• Repeated notes sent to the cell phone
• A website set up to mock others
• “Borrowing” someone’s screen name and pretending to be them while posting a message.
• Forwarding supposedly private messages, pictures, or video to others.

2. i-SAFE America Inc.
Cyber Bullying 5963 La Place Court
Ste. 309
Carlsbad, CA 92008
The Effects of Cyber Bullying: Teen Takes His Own Life
Awhile ago our 13-year-old son Ryan find clues to explain his death. It was few hours away. Had we met this child
took his own life. For the first few days during this first session that two chil- in person or had the chance to ask
we were nearly immobilized by shock dren told me the details of what hap- other parents about the boy, we would
and grief. It made absolutely no sense. pened at school in regards to bullying. have never allowed him to associate
Ryan was an outwardly happy - Another child also tipped me off with this kid.
go-lucky kid with two loving and sup- that there might be logged IM conver- Do I blame the computer and the
portive parents. He did not leave a sations on Ryan’s computer if he had Internet for my son’s death? No. Did I
note and his peers at school did not installed a program called “DeadAIM.” feel the computer in his room exacer-
give the counselors and police any I found the folder of conversations. bated a very unhealthy situation that
logical reasons for his action. It turned Reading them was almost as difficult started with schoolyard bullying? Yes.
out the computer in Ryan’s bedroom as losing my son. I found three months The computer in his room pro-
would be the key to unlocking most of of IM conversations right up to just a vided an environment that reinforced
the mystery. few days before his death. his bad feelings. He continued to get
I was very proud of the fact that One very disturbing IM exchange harassed and tried to harass back
my children grew up with computers was with another boy who was harass- online throughout the summer, which
from a very early age. To be safe, we ing Ryan in a very disgusting, sexual only made things much worse when
often discussed the dangers of the way. There were many other conver- he had to face the same kids at the
Internet with them. They knew not to sations that revealed Ryan’s view of start of the new school year.
divulge any personal information or IM life had taken a dramatic negative turn Instead of turning to an adult, the
with anyone they did not know in per- over the summer. computer made it too easy for him to
son. Periodic inspection of Ryan’s And there was one particular boy turn to another peer who ended up
computer and frequent discussions whose online advice and encourage- being more harmful to Ryan’s state of
had assured me that Ryan was con- ment was anything but helpful to mind. Behind closed doors, Ryan was
tinuing to use the PC responsibly. An- Ryan’s state of mind. This one IM ex- also able to more easily explore the
other rule was no online accounts with change, just a few nights before his option of suicide and find a website
passwords kept secret from his par- death, sums up the nature of this very that showed him ways to do it.
ents. We felt this was a good deterrent unhealthy relationship: I’ll never know for certain if he
to any inappropriate e-mailing or in- My son: “Tonight’s the night. You would still be alive today had the com-
stant messaging. are going to read about in the paper puter not been in his room, but I hope
A week after his death, I logged tomorrow.” by sharing this, another parent pauses
onto Ryan’s AOL IM account. I was Other boy: “It’s about time.” and reflects on our family’s tragedy. To
quickly instant messaged from many Ryan never mentioned this boy’s learn more about Ryan and ways to
of his startled peers. I immediately name. We learned later that Ryan prevent teenage suicide, visit:
identified myself as Ryan’s dad and hung out with him a few times in per- www.RyanPatrickHalligan.com.
that I was, on his account, trying to son but mostly online since he lives a By John Halligan, Ryan’s father
Prevention Techniques: Avoiding Bullies Online
• Don’t give out private in- • Don’t exchange pictures or from people who seem angry
formation such as passwords, give out e-mail addresses to or mean.
pins, name, address, phone people you meet on the Inter- • When something doesn’t
number, school name, or fam- net. Ask permission from par- seem right, it probably
ily and friends’ names. This ents when it is necessary to isn’t. Get out of the site,
information can be used by give such information. chat, etc.
bullies and other harmful • Don’t send a message • Realize that online con-
people on the Internet. Don’t when you are angry—it’s hard versations are not private.
even reveal your password to to undo things that are said Others can copy, print, and
your friends. They might re- in anger. share what you say or any
veal it or use it against you in • Delete messages from peo- pictures you send. Be careful!
a fight. ple you don’t know, or those