How to Resolve Cyberbullying

Ryann Tate
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Introduction
Ding ding, a girls phone rings signaling an incoming message from Gossip Girl. The message
reads, Spotted at Grand Central, bags in hand: Serena van der Woodsen. Was it only a year ago
our It Girl mysteriously disappeared for boarding school? And just as suddenly, shes back.
Dont believe me? See for yourselves. Luck for us, Melanie91 sent proof, Thanks Mel. Gossip
sure does travel fast on the Upper Eastside. Of course with the aid of technology. Although
Gossip Girl is a fictional story, it tackles some real life issues in the world.
Throughout the Gossip Girl series, we follow the lives of several teens in the Upper East Side.
All of the Upper East Siders have secrets, its just a matter of when they will come out and who
they will hurt. Gossip Girl does not act alone in exposing the secrets of the Upper East Side, she
gets her tips from people in New York and the Upper East Siders themselves. Without her
followers that send in tips, Gossip Girl would be powerless. The posts sent out by Gossip Girl
were hurtful, and they ruined lives, relationships, and futures.
In this age, technology affects the culture of the world in a major way. The way we communicate
and interact with each other is mainly colored by social media. Because of this, there is a world
wide epidemic of cyber bullying. We no longer bully people face to face but use tools like social
media to bully people online. The rise in cyber bullying is astronomical. This is why children
need to be informed about the dangers of the internet and what they should and should not be
posted online. If we educate our youth on internet safety, it will be beneficial for the case against
cyber bullying. In this paper I will talk about the importance of internet safety and the
importance of education on internet safety to encourage the resolve of bullying.
Literary Interview
'Gossip Girl' tackles cyberbullying. (2009, February 27). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
This article covers an episode of Gossip Girl called Carrnall Knowledge. In the episode there
is a rumor about a teacher sleeping with a student on Gossip Girl. The website talks about what
takes place during the episode. The person responsible for sending out the rumor, Blair Waldorf,
gets expelled. A board of parents meet to discuss whether they should shut down Gossip Girl or
not. The article brings up the many themes that are featured in the episode. For example,
disciplining students for cruel rumors, protecting the freedom of speech, maintaining the
prestigious schools reputation, defining bullying of teachers, condemning the values gossip sites

encourage, and questioning where those values find their origin all feature in the current
debates over censorship in schools and online.()
A Parents Guide to Internet Safety. (2005, June 3). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
This article is directions from the FBI to parents on how to monitor what their kids are doing
online. It talks about how the internet is used to obtain information especially in an educational
setting. The article gives insight on how people try to sexually exploit children while online.
Furthermore, the article gives parents signs that their children are at risk online(). It also gives
parents instructions on what to do if their child is at risk online. Additionally, the article provides
parents ways of preventing the victimization of their children by online predators.
Cyber Bullying Statistics 2014. (2014, February 24). Retrieved November 3, 2015.
This article gives a lot of statistical data about cyberbullying. For example, 25 percent of
teenagers report that they have experienced repeated bullying via their cell phone or on the
internet. Over half (fifty-two percent) off young people report being cyber bullied. Eleven
percent of adolescents and teens have reported embarassing or damaging photographs taken
without the knowledge or consent of the subject. Of the young people who reported cyber
bullying incidents against them, one-third (thirty-three percent) of them reported that their bullies
issued online threats. () The article encourages parents and authority figures to talk to their
children about cyberbullying. It also encourages people to talk about cyber bullying as a way of
preventing it.

CyberBully and CyberGossip: A New Threat to Your Teen? (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
This article describes what bullying is, giving some examples of the way cyber bullying is done.
Via email or social media bullies say negative things, spread rumors, and/or threaten their
victims. This article also gives the reader cases of cyber bullying leading to death from different
parts of the United States. Moreover, the text describes cyber bullying as, a form of relational
agression. And it says that because girls are more likely to have relational aggression, they are
more likely to be cyber bullies. The article give parents tips on how to help their children avoid
cyber bullying. It also advises parents to not retaliate but to consider legal action.
Finkelhor, D., & Mitchell, K. (2001, March 1). Highlights of the Youth Internet Safety Survey.
Retrieved November 3, 2015.
The article introduces a survey administered to over a thousand youth from ages ten to seventeen
who used the internet regularly. The survey focused on harassment, sexual approaches, and etc.
The article gives the results of the survey in sections. There were faults with survey because
people who took it could probably lie about their gender and age. The survey found that nineteen

percent of the youth who were surveyed received an unwanted sexual solicitation in the past
year. Furthermore, only six percent of those surveyed reported that they have underwent
harassment. The article advises parents to report any unusual findings to the police.
Hochberg, A. (2007, September 17). Back to School: Reading, Writing and Internet Safety.
Retrieved November 3, 2015.
This radio show discusses the new law that has been passed in Virginia that mandates high
schools to teach an internet safety class. It talks about how an assistant attorney general to talk to
kids about the dangers of the internet and sexual predators. It also talks about legislation that
requires adolescents who want to join websites like Myspace to have parental consent. Similar
legislation has not passed in other states. It is brought up that you cannot really know if a parent
gives consent or not because it is on a computer. Myspace has taken precautions and kicked a lot
of sexual predators off the sight.
O'Keeffe, G., & Clark-Pearson, K. (2011, March 28). Clinical Report-The Impact of of Social
Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
This article gives multiple statistics on internet use by different tweens and adolescents. The
article then lists the benefits of adolescents using the internet such as accessing, learning
opportunities, health information, and social connection. Likewise, the article lists the risks of
adolescents using the internet such as, cyber bullying, sexting, and lack of privacy. Each of the
pros and cons have a detailed explanation with statistics to back it up. Furthermore, the article
talks about the role of Pediatricians in internet safety. Saying, pediatricians should advice parents
to talk to their children about what they do on the internet.
Tate, Ryann. Assignment 1: Gossip Girl Observation. (6, Oct. 2015). UWRT-1104-007.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Notes. Retrieved November 2, 2015
This text is an observation of three consecutive episodes of the Gossip Girl series. Each
observation was thirty minutes long. The text gives relative background information to readers
about the show. Furthermore, the text provides a figured world, actors, domain, practices of the
domain, etc. Each of the terms in the previous sentence were defined and an example was given
based on the show for each of the terms. Following the observations, there is an interview from
three fans of the show. All of the people who were interviewed gave their opinions of the show.
Willard, N. (2005). Educators Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats. Retrieved November 2,
2015.
This articles talks about how young people use the internet to connect and how more recently the
internet has been used to display negative commentary. This article defines cyberbullying and
lists the types such as, flaming, harassment, exclusion, and etc. Furthermore, the article talks
about the impact of cyberbullying and risky online behavior. It delves into legal issues of

cyberbullying. For example, the freedom of speech, liability of the schools, and criminal law.
Moreover, the article gives some examples of way to help resolve cyber bullying. It delves into
the responsibilities of the schools to change policies and to look for parent and community
outreach.
Entering the Conversation
In the Gossip Girl series, cyberbullying was a daily routine. Gossip Girl posted about
every incriminating detail of the Upper East Side, without rebuff. The difference between Gossip
Girl and the regular world, is that in Gossip Girl the people lived for the gossip they loved
sending it in and reading it. The fictional characters never seemed hurt emotionally by a Gossip
Girl post. In the society that we live in now, a site like Gossip Girl would be frowned upon. And
frankly, if some of the posts on Gossip Girl were post in a real high school setting they would
lead to very bad consequences. Because, unlike the characters on the television show, people in
the real world have feelings and those feelings get hurt when negative things get posted about
them online.
As a way to eliminate or resolve cyberbullying I propose that there should classes on
internet safety. These classes should start as early as the middle school. Because, around the age
of thirteen children start getting social media and they begin to use the internet more frequently.
In this class students should be taught the importance of internet safety. The lessons should
include but not be limited to sexual predators, privacy, digital foot print, and cyberbullying.
For example, the students should be taught the dangers of putting personal information
such as an address or telephone number online. They should be taught about how sexual
predators work to hurt children and what actions they should take if they are being pursued by a
sexual predator. Teachers should take time to explain to their students the definition of
cyberbullying. Teachers should also illustrate all the different forms of cyberbullying. The
students need to be aware of the consequences of cyberbullying both legal and emotional. At the
end of this course there should be a survey asking how effective the class has been.
If there is a course at middle schools that teach internet safety, perhaps there will be less
cyberbullying reported among the youth.
Conclusion
Cyberbullying is an issue all across America. Cyberbullying may even lead someone to commit
suicide. It is a very important topic to discuss, and anything there can be done to help prevent it
should be done. We are not emotionless characters that loved to be talked about on Gossip Girl.
We do not believe that the more we are talked about on social media, the more popular we will
be. We are real people with real feelings that can get hurt when hurtful things are posted online.
By setting up classes on internet safety we can teach students the dangers of the internet. Not to
say that the internet is a dangerous place where only bad things occur. The internet provides
many good advantages to todays youth such as social connection and research and learning

opportunities. If adolescents are educated about the internet they will be less likely to cyberbully
because they know what that may result in. Also parents should talk to their children about what
they explore and post on the internet. And if a parent has a child that is being cyberbullied they
should document the posts and if the cyberbullying gets out of hand, they should take legal
action. Community outreach programs can provide some information about cyberbullying and
internet safety as well. For more information about the cyberbullying problem, I propose a new
survey be taken by adolescents around the United States. I also propose that along with the
cyberbullying survey, there should be an internet safety survey as well. This information will be
beneficial for the advancement of the research in both of these subjects.

Bibliography
'Gossip Girl' tackles cyberbullying. (2009, February 27). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
A Parents Guide to Internet Safety. (2005, June 3). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
Cyber Bullying Statistics 2014. (2014, February 24). Retrieved November 3, 2015.
CyberBully and CyberGossip: A New Threat to Your Teen? (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
Finkelhor, D., & Mitchell, K. (2001, March 1). Highlights of the Youth Internet Safety Survey.
Retrieved November 3, 2015.
Hochberg, A. (2007, September 17). Back to School: Reading, Writing and Internet Safety.
Retrieved November 3, 2015.
O'Keeffe, G., & Clark-Pearson, K. (2011, March 28). Clinical Report-The Impact of of Social
Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
Tate, Ryann. Assignment 1: Gossip Girl Observation. (6, Oct. 2015). UWRT-1104-007.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Notes. Retrieved November 2, 2015
Willard, N. (2005). Educators Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats. Retrieved November 2,
2015.