Cyberbullying: A Downside of Blogging

Posted on March 23, 2005

Not everything about blogging is a good thing. Blogging has led to a rise in cyberbullying in schools where blogging allows kids to easily bully other kids and mock them. They also use digital photos for the humiliation of classmates. Kids are quick with technology and have little trouble with the latest photo sharing and blogging tools.

Parry Aftab, director of WiredSafety.org, told Oregon Live, "The problem is bad and it's getting worse. It's getting worse because it's so easy, and kids are bored or angry. It's growing because parents are putting powerful technology into their kids' hands and they are clueless about what that technology is. Parents don't know half the time what text messages are or that kids take pictures of other kids in locker rooms with their cell phones."

Stevie Viaene, a web design teacher at Tigard High School, told Oregon Live, "Kids have been driven to tears by some very nasty e-mails. Lots of kids spend a lot of time blogging, and putting scathing things about other students on them."

Oregonlive.com has more about this growing problem. WiredSafety.org also has a section about cyberbullying including a section called Internet Super Heroes, which provides information with the help of super heroes like Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk.

The site explains the threats and damage caused by cyberbullies:

The ways cyberbullies harass their victims expand every day as new technologies are released and the cyberbullies find ways to abuse them. They use e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, bulletin boards, chatrooms, profiles, photo and videophones, text messaging and Web sites. They often pose as their victim, doing things or saying thing to get them into trouble online. They may even break-into their victim's accounts by either misusing or guessing their passwords, and once there either spam their victim's friends or even change the password locking the victim out of their own account.