READING PASSAGE

Cyber-bullying: laugh and youll be considered guilty

Children who think it is harmless fun to pass on digital images or messages designed
to humiliate another child or an adult are being targeted in a campaign to stamp out
cyber-bullying. From today, children contacting friends through the internet forums
MySpace, Bebo, MSN instant messaging or Yahoo will be faced with a pop-up
advertisement showing examples of text message and cyberspace abuse and bullying.
They will carry the message: Laugh at it and youre part of it.
The government has announced new measures to curb bullies who use the internet
and mobile phones to target other children and adults. The government research into
the extent of cyber-bullying found that a third of 12 to 15 year olds reported having
been victims. There are also examples of adults being ridiculed, threatened and
subjected to false allegations online by children. The government reminds parents
whose children bully classmates by mobile phone or the internet that they could face
parenting orders and fines of up to 1,000 if they fail to put a stop to their childs
actions.
The campaign is backed by the mobile phone and internet industries, as well as
childrens charities and teaching unions. It follows complaints from teachers, pupils
and parents that cyber-bullying is ruining lives and has got out of control. The
government has thus released practical tips to avoid cyber-bullying, including not
responding to malicious texts or emails, saving evidence of cyber-bullying and
reporting them, keeping passwords safe, and not giving mobile phone numbers and
other personal details over the internet.
Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary, said that cyber-bullying was
particularly poisonous as it could follow young people wherever they go, including
normally safe spaces such as their bedrooms, and it was often difficult to find out
who the bully was. One message I want to get across to young people is that
bystanders can inadvertently become perpetrators, he said. Simply by passing on
videos or images they are playing a part in bullying. It is important that pupils are
aware that their actions have severe and distressing consequences and the
participating in such activity will not be tolerated.
Time Online, September 21st, 2007

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A READING COMPREHENSION: (12 MARKS)

1 Read the text and indentify the texts type: (1 mark)
The text is:

a- narrative

b- argumentative

c- descriptive

2 Correct these FALSE statements with details from the text: (3 marks)
a- Parents shouldnt be considered accountable for their childrens offensive
messages. (parag. 2)
..
b- Bullying does not go beyond the playgrounds borders. (parag. 4)

c- The offender is usually identifiable. (parag. 4)

3 What do the underlined words in the text refer to: (2 marks)
a- They (parag. 1) refers to

b- It (parag. 3) refers to

4 Find in the text words having nearly the same meaning as: (2 marks)
a- control (parag. 2)

b- supported (parag. 3):

5 Complete this summary with words from the text: (3 marks)

Cyber-bullying is bombarding email accounts with abusive text messages, via the
internet or cell phones, intended to

(1)

...another person. The

effects of such offences can be so deteriorating that they can get out of

(2)

..at times, leaving victims contemplating suicide. The government has

recently launched an anti-cyberbullying

(3)

..in an attempt to

help children, parents and even teachers how to best tackle this bullying culture.
6 If you ever happened to be a victim of cyber-bullying, what would your reaction
be? How would you deal with the bully? (1 mark)
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