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Leila Price

English 1102-007

Robert Arnold

11 May 2011

Public Argument Letter

Dear Andrew Beale and Kimberly Hall,

In the past ten years, the use of the internet has become more common. Adolescents and

adults are using the internet for school purposes, employment purposes, and social purposes.

Cyberbullying is a growing problem when dealing with the internet and adolescents. Education

Digest states ³simply put, cyberbullying is the repeated use of technology to harass, humiliate, or

threaten´ (Holladay). Many people claim that there is a responsibility for different groups of

people to teach the adolescents how to avoid this early on. You two place sole responsibility on

the educators and little responsibility on the parents but none on the students themselves, ³to

assist the victims of cyberbullying and develop interventions aimed at preventing it, educators

need to be informed about cyberbullying, the forms it takes, and what strategies or actions they

might take to combat it in their schools´ (Beale).

I believe that cyberbullying should be stopped through a combination of the educators,

parents, and the students. It is becoming an increasing problem. ³Anywhere from one-third to

one-half of youths have been targeted by cyberbullies´ (Holladay). The word cyberbulling was

not even existent twenty years ago. Bullying, however, has been a problem for centuries.

Cyberbullying is ³an act of aggression that can take the form of purposeful harassment, such as

making unwanted, derogative, nasty, or threatening comments through electronic

communications or spreading rumors, short clips, or altered photos that are offensive or



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embarrassing the victim by posting them on a Web site´ (Mesch). Bullying offline has been

found to be more prevalent with males but cyberbullying is often found to be a majority of

females (Beale). ³Because technology provides a screen behind which young people may hide,

they do not have to be accountable for their actions, and if a person cannot be identified with an

action, fear of being caught and punished is diminished´ (Beale).

You two place the main responsibility of teaching students about website safety on the

educators. You state that ³school administrators are responsible for ensuring that all students are

provided an opportunity to attend school free from fear and intimidation´ (Beale). I do

understand that students spend a lot of time in classrooms. Some schools require that students

take computer classes to introduce them to Microsoft Word, Excel, typing, and the Internet.

My understanding is that you both believe educators are mainly responsible for stopping

cyerbullying. You have listed strategies for the school administrators to use while trying to

combat the cyberbullying issue. A couple of the strategies include establishing a relationship

with the local police department and creating an appropriate school climate´ (Beale).

All of the strategies listed sound like they could have quite the impact on the

cyberbullying issue. However, some of the ones you two list seem to contradict what you state

you believe, as far as responsibility goes. Along with this, your suggestions do not seem very

practical. I do not understand establishing a relationship with the police department and having

police officers talk to parents and students on how to use the internet properly. I would think that

since you two are placing the responsibility on the educators, you would have the educators

speak to the parents and the students.

Both of you also listed creating an appropriate school climate for the students. I can see

how this would cause a decrease in the regular bullying such as ³on playgrounds, on school



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buses, and in school hallways´ (Beale). This is a logical idea for creating an environment that

deals with less violence but you stated that cyberbullying happens in homes and the school

climate may not directly relate with this. ³A tormentor can get into a victims¶ home, harassing

him or her while parents sit comfortably in the next room´ (Beale).

I think that the educators play an important role in teaching adolescents how to avoid

cyberbullying. I do not believe that the educators should hold the most responsibility when

dealing with this issue. Parental supervision and monitoring might be a more effective way to

prevent cyberbullying. Parents have a more personal relationship with adolescents than educators

do. They spend time with their child and I believe that they would be more able to talk to their

children about cyberbullying and how to avoid it. Adolescents might take it more seriously when

their parent is talking to them than when they are in a classroom with their friends or do not want

to listen.

A study shows that less monitoring is linked to the adolescent being involved in

cyberbullying. ³Ybarra and Mitchell (2004a) found that infrequent caregiver monitoring was

associated with increased likelihood of children¶s Internet harassment activity´ (Demaray). This

group continues to state that most adolescents do not usually look to others for help once they

become a victim to harassment. The percentage of adolescents, who were victims of

cyberbullying, that reported telling a parent was 8.9% (Demaray). ³Given these results, parents

and caregivers need to be aware of cyberbullying and take a proactive approach to monitor youth

for experiences with it´ (Demaray). ³Parental monitoring is a critical starting point for

prevention and intervention aimed at cyberbullying´ (Demaray). They state that the first step in

preventing cyberbullying belongs to the parents.



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Another group also believes that the parents should hold most of the responsibility for

preventing cyberbullying among adolescents. Gustavo Mesch conducted a study to test the risk

of the youth in being bullied and the use of parental mediation. ³The results indicate the need for

more parental participation to reduce risks to youth arising from Internet use for interpersonal

communication´ (Mesch).

I found an article from the Education Digest that is an example of how little parents

monitor their children. The article tells about an incidence where online bullying led to a

physical altercation. A principle noticed a Facebook page directed toward one of the students.

³He asked every parent to support a 48-hour moratorium on Facebook activity at home and to

discuss the use of the social networking site with their children´ (Holladay). The principle and

some educators called some of the parents whose children were involved in posting on the

Facebook page. The principle stated, ³numerous parents came back to us and said, 'I had no

idea'²no idea what their child was doing online, or even that they had a Facebook page.´

(Holladay).

I have discussed the roles educators and parents play in preventing cyberbullying. The

students have a responsibility to tell others when they are the victim of cyberbullying. Demaray

showed statistics for a student who told their parent or their friend. The percentages were 8.9%

and 35.7% (Demaray). I do not understand how a student who is a victim could get out of their

situation alone.

Both of you make valid points about placing the responsibility of stopping cyberbullying

on the educators and the parents. I think there should be more emphasis placed on the parents

than there was. I also believe the responsibility should be placed on a combination of the

educators, parents, and the students. I think that if parents, educators, and students all work



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together, cyberbullying can be significantly reduced. Students do spend a lot of time in school

but when they are not at school, parents can help by monitoring their children. I agree with you

two when you stated ³because many parents are not as computer savvy as their children, schools

should sponsor workshops designed to enlighten parents about the nature and forms of

cyberbullying´ (Beale). Educators and parents can enforce the idea of their students/children

reporting cyberbullying if they were to ever become a victim. Students may also need to

understand what can happen if they become a victim of cyberbullying.

Thank you,

Leila Price



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Works Cited

Beale, Andrew V., and Kimberly R. Hall. "Cyberbullying: What School Administrators (and

Parents) Can Do." Clearing House 81.1 (2007): 8-12. Academic Search Premier. BSCO.

Web. 4 May 2011.

Demaray, Michelle K., and Christina F. Brown. "Prevent Cyberbullying: Suggestions for

Parents." Communique 38.4 (2009): 1,. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 4 May 2011.

Holladay, Jennifer. "Cyberbullying." Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick

Review 76.5 (2011): 4-9. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 4 May 2011.

Mesch, Gustavo S. "Parental Mediation, Online Activities, and Cyberbullying."

CyberPsychology & Behavior 12.4 (2009): 387-393. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.

Web. 20 Feb. 2011.|