Cyber Bullying and Sexting

1. Cyber Bullying and Sexting By: Robbie Beazley & Haley Riley

2. Definitions • Cyberbullying"involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.“ • Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs

3. Statistics • Cyber bullying • Approximately 20% of the students report experiencing cyberbullying in their lifetimes. • Adolescent girls are significantly more likely to have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetimes (25.8% vs. 16%). • Sexting • 39% of teens send sexually suggestive messages to others • 20% of teens have posted nude or semi-nude photos of themselves • http://www.pcsndreams.com/Pages/Sexting_Statistics.html

4. Cyberbullying Incidents Over the Past Year • The anonymous user responsible for one such account, a Twitter account called @hater_quotez, deactivated the account on Friday, Jan. 13 after being up over winter break. The account targeted a handful of freshmen and eighth grade girls, with tweets bashing them on such topics such as their appearance, weight and personality. • Girls’ Opinion: “I definitely think cyberbullying is a show of a really insecure person because if they really had a problem with someone, they would be able to confront them,”

5. (Cont.) • Freshman Hannah Phipps heard about the Twitter account through a friend. The comment about her said, “You’re such a b – - – - and you need plastic surgery and facial reconstruction.” • http://www.mvnews.org/news/2012/02/02/cyberbullying-impacts-school/ • “Students Take on Cyberbullying” • http://www.niot.org/nios-video/students-take-cyberbullying?gclid=CKmE5YDhoK4CFWyHtgodpm1M4Q

6. Court Decisions/ Jail Time? • A teenager who posted a death threat on Facebook, yesterday became the first person in Britain to be jailed for bullying on a social networking site. • Houghton was sentenced to three months in a young offenders' institution after pleading guilty to harassment. • She was also given a restraining order banning her from contacting Emily in person, via the internet or in any other manner for five years. • People have previously been jailed for harassment and stalking on social networking sites but she is thought to be the first to be jailed for bullying via the internet. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208147/First-cyberbully-jailed-Facebook-death-threats.html#ixzz1mTvubjWy

7. Famous Cyberbullying/Sexting Situations • Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was caught sexting a single mother from Texas. He denied it at first, but then confessed to it. He soon resigned from his position in the House of Representatives. • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/01/anthony-weiner-twitter-photo_n_869769.html • Rebecca Black on her song, “Friday” • All of the criticism has been devastating for Rebecca, who’s still struggling to cope with being thrust into the national spotlight. • “Those hurtful comments really shocked me,” the Orange County eighth grader told Good Morning America Friday. “At times it feels like I’m being cyberbullied. It’s crazy. When I first saw all these nasty comments, I did cry.” • Former NFL QB Brett Favre was said to be sexting Jets’ trainer Jennifer Sterger during his stint in New York. He was fined $50,000 by the league.

8. Views • Cyberbullying is never acceptable and there should be strict consequences for those who initiate the harassment, especially on social networking sites such as Facebook, where it becomes easy to spread hateful messages rapidly. • Sexting is also wrong and very inappropriate. Nobody should be sending pictures of their bodies to others, no matter what reason. It goes basically hand-in-hand with cyberbullying and the punishment is reasonable