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Is this a waste of taxpayers time and money?


Arkan

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"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

 

- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

 

"I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta

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Shut the **** up Arkan and give me all your money! :)

 

:'( do you accept paypal?

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

 

- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

 

"I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta

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My advice to people who feel they are being "cyber bullied"....get the **** off the internets. :)

 

Are you kidding? Nowadays that's the same as telling a kid who is bullied to stop going to school. It's not a realistic option. There is this myth that everything you do on the internet is anonymous, and some immature folks think that means they can be total asshats. I'd love to see those folks suddenly be accountable for their behavior.

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Isn't things like this the reason we have a "block user" button in most IM programs and usually a "block sender" list for e-mail?

 

Hurlshot: That's all well and good, but you'll never get rid of asshats on the internet. There are just too many of them. :)

Edited by Deraldin
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My advice to people who feel they are being "cyber bullied"....get the **** off the internets. :)

 

Are you kidding? Nowadays that's the same as telling a kid who is bullied to stop going to school.

 

No. No, it's not.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

 

- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

 

"I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta

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I don't know about cyberbullying but here in Iowa we recently had a law passed that will make schools accountable for bullies. If a school does nothing, then they are breaking the law. Also I think they should make it that these bullies can be criminally charged for hate crimes because that is what they essential are doing. Spreading around the hate.

 

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/01/31...1a229871713.txt

 

They just need to amend that law just a bit to include cyberbullying.

 

If the kid has behavior problems that can't be solved by the school through normal punishments then expel the child and let his or her parents deal with home schooling.

Edited by Sand

Murphy's Law of Computer Gaming: The listed minimum specifications written on the box by the publisher are not the minimum specifications of the game set by the developer.

 

@\NightandtheShape/@ - "Because you're a bizzare strange deranged human?"

Walsingham- "Sand - always rushing around, stirring up apathy."

Joseph Bulock - "Another headache, courtesy of Sand"

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I agree that schools should monitor what goes on when children are under their care--it is their responsibility. Who, then, is responsible for monitoring activities on the internet? There's already a long line of folks who would just love to legislate every facet of it. But is that what we really want?

 

The internet may serve to keep the kids out of their parents' hair, but it is not a babysitter or a nanny--any more than television was a decade ago. Parents are responsible not just for monitoring what their children are doing, but also how they are reacting to it. If it's a problem, then as a parent, I reserve the right to restrict access and even pull the plug. That's what user accounts and ISP internet control settings were designed for; any parent that ignores them and the child both is asking for trouble--and not just from bullies.

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I don't know about cyberbullying but here in Iowa we recently had a law passed that will make schools accountable for bullies. If a school does nothing, then they are breaking the law. Also I think they should make it that these bullies can be criminally charged for hate crimes because that is what they essential are doing. Spreading around the hate.

 

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/01/31...1a229871713.txt

 

They just need to amend that law just a bit to include cyberbullying.

 

If the kid has behavior problems that can't be solved by the school through normal punishments then expel the child and let his or her parents deal with home schooling.

 

Making schools accountable for cyberbullying would be a bad idea. If it doesn't happen on their property -- they shouldn't have a say in it. If a student is using school equipment for cyberbullying that's a different matter. But schools should stay out of anything that doesn't happen within their property.

 

I don't believe schools should even get involved with physical or verbal bullying that doesn't occur on school grounds. That's a job for the local law enforcement and the courts.

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100% agree with that. I ahte when I hear stories of schools suspending/punishing students for activities occuring off of school property ie. fighting and whatnot.

 

As for cyber bullying. Meh.

DWARVES IN PROJECT ETERNITY = VOLOURN HAS PLEDGED $250.

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Sure, if it happens off school grounds, but a good chunk of bullying happens on school grounds and thusly needs to be treated accordingly. As for the stuff that happens off school grounds, I agree that local law enforcement should used and the transgressors punished to the full extent of the law.

Murphy's Law of Computer Gaming: The listed minimum specifications written on the box by the publisher are not the minimum specifications of the game set by the developer.

 

@\NightandtheShape/@ - "Because you're a bizzare strange deranged human?"

Walsingham- "Sand - always rushing around, stirring up apathy."

Joseph Bulock - "Another headache, courtesy of Sand"

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Sure, if it happens off school grounds, but a good chunk of bullying happens on school grounds and thusly needs to be treated accordingly. As for the stuff that happens off school grounds, I agree that local law enforcement should used and the transgressors punished to the full extent of the law.

 

Shut the **** up Hades and give me all your money or I'll send a werewolf after ya. ;)

 

 

Pre-approved Checks are fine. :devil:

Edited by astr0creep
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*sets loose the shocky monkey on Astrocreep*

 

As I was saying...

Murphy's Law of Computer Gaming: The listed minimum specifications written on the box by the publisher are not the minimum specifications of the game set by the developer.

 

@\NightandtheShape/@ - "Because you're a bizzare strange deranged human?"

Walsingham- "Sand - always rushing around, stirring up apathy."

Joseph Bulock - "Another headache, courtesy of Sand"

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I think it's great that action is being taken. I was fgortunate to go to a school that took a very tough line on bullying, and personally intervened when younger kids were being bullied. Its consequences can be long-term and appalling. If teh internet is the medium so be it. At least a victim may have text they can point at to illustrate their problem.

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

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All they need to do is trace the line back to sender and BOOM! You have your culprit. In most cases.

Murphy's Law of Computer Gaming: The listed minimum specifications written on the box by the publisher are not the minimum specifications of the game set by the developer.

 

@\NightandtheShape/@ - "Because you're a bizzare strange deranged human?"

Walsingham- "Sand - always rushing around, stirring up apathy."

Joseph Bulock - "Another headache, courtesy of Sand"

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The whole reason schools need to be involved in cyberbullying as that it always, and I mean ALWAYS, spills into the school grounds. Does anyone else here work with 12-14 year old kids? They are emotionally all over the place. Try to think back to when you were that age, it was probably not the easiest time in your life.

 

Just removing kids from the internet is not the answer Arkan. Just like homeschooling, taking your kid away from that entire social structure will only make it harder for them to adjust when they leave home. The internet is a huge part of our daily lives, and keeping a kid away from it will only serve to isolate them. Basically you are exchanging the "I'm being picked on" tag for a "I'm completely ignored by my peers" tag. Neither one is good.

 

Now the best thing would be to have actual active parents who know what their children are doing, but those who live in reality know that will never happen. I've been teaching for awhile, and even in the best schools, only about 20% of the parents have a clue what their children are doing.

 

I'm not saying I know some magic answer for cyberbullying, any more than I do for regular bullying. But at least this legislation attempts to address the problem. I know my school has been tackling cyberbullying for that last few years, and I spend about a week focusing strictly on bullying. Sure, a week of classtime is extremely difficult considering the massive amount of content I'm supposed to cover, but if it helps even one kid stand up against bullying, it's worth it.

 

edit: Do you think Columbine happens if there is no bullying at that school?

Edited by Hurlshot
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:'(

There was a time when I questioned the ability for the schizoid to ever experience genuine happiness, at the very least for a prolonged segment of time. I am no closer to finding the answer, however, it has become apparent that contentment is certainly a realizable goal. I find these results to be adequate, if not pleasing. Unfortunately, connection is another subject entirely. When one has sufficiently examined the mind and their emotional constructs, connection can be easily imitated. More data must be gleaned and further collated before a sufficient judgment can be reached.

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"Oh, other kids are harassing you? Leave, because we want to reinforce the notion that bullying is fun and the person we punish will be the victim."

 

I don't know where I stand on the law, but I think the idea that the bullies should win while we punish the victims is absolutely stupid. Of course, we don't really have bullies here. If someone acts like a bully, they're liable to be warned, censured, or outright banned. ...And I agree with that.

 

The real question, as stated previously, is to establish when words have the equivalent impact of actual harassment. The threshold must be high. I know that sucks, but the threshold must be high enough that we don't create a larger enforcement problem than the harassment problem in the first place. Next, we have to agree on where the right to privacy ends and the enforcement of the law begins. That's going to be important.

 

So, I think it's probably wise to have something in place to help create a relatively safe environment. ...But online communities, like real world communities, will always have some of these incidents. If we take a draconian stand, we're going to have a much worse problem on our hands than the initial problem.

 

I'm sad that a kid killed himself. I won't get maudlin or dramatic about it, but I honestly do think its dreadful. However, the number of children who commit suicide as a result of online bullying is probably quite small. Personally, I would be far more worried about children being victimized by adults than children on the internet.

 

Still, the idea that the victim should just stop using the internet seems like a particularly poor argument.

Fionavar's Holliday Wishes to all members of our online community:  Happy Holidays

 

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Remembering tarna, Phosphor, Metadigital, and Visceris.  Drink mead heartily in the halls of Valhalla, my friends!

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I agree with Hurlshot. This is a serious thing, and if one's responsibility is children's wlefare then it's hard to draw geographical boundaries around it.

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

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