Cyber Bullying Resources

“As America’s kids prepare to go back to school, national law enforcement leaders released a poll showing that one in three teens and one in six preteens have been victims of cyber bullying. The leaders estimate that more than 13 million children aged 6 to 17 were victims of cyber bullying. More than 2 million of those victims told no one about the attacks.” 

www.fightcrime.org/releases.php?id=231

This is unacceptable. 

Here is a link with some excellent resources if you are in the beginning stages of learning about cyber-bullying:

www.cyberbullying.us/links.php

Gakina-awiiya (We Are All Related),

Chief Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree
www.thetalltrees.com

“Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth, and heal each other.”   – Ojibwe prayer

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Cyber Language/Internet Slang

We were musing over our post yesterday, and realized that many parents and teachers might not even know cyber-bullying if they saw it, because of the crazy shorthand, cyber language, and internet slang kids and adults use nowadays.  There’s a great site – www.netlingo.com – where you can decypher your child’s language.  We found an online language translator too that you may find helpful – www.worldlingo.com.

Gakina-awiiya (We Are All Related),

Chief Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree
www.thetalltrees.com

“Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth, and heal each other.”   – Ojibwe prayer

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Cyber-Bullying

Last year we performed at a Catholic middle school that was going through a horrible experience. A group of 6th grade girls were bullying another girl through the computer, through myspace.com, and through text messaging. The girl who was being bullied refused to come to school, all the parents were up in arms, and the school found itself in the middle of a very serious situation in which there were no procedures or policies in place to deal with.

We spend quite a bit of time keeping up on research, but it wasn’t until this experience that we realized the extent of cyber-bullying, and the potential harm that it can cause.

Unlike younger generations, the percentage of our lives lived online is small, but that simply is not the reality for many young adults, adults, and children.  If you are a parent, or teacher, or if you have a child in your life that you care about, learn about cyber-bullying.  It is crucial in this day and age.  Here’s a website we found to be excellent in dealing with this issue:  www.stopcyberbullying.org

Gakina-awiiya (We Are All Related),

Chief Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree
www.thetalltrees.com

“Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth, and heal each other.”   – Ojibwe prayer

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Homophobic or Anti-Gay Bullying

Anti-gay or homophobic bullying is an extremely serious, harmful issue that every parent and teacher should be aware of. One of the most profound memories we have comes from the day we spoke at a conference on Grief and Loss. It was in Casper, Wyoming and it was on the same day as Matthew Shephard’s funeral. There was so much sadness, it hung in the air like a dark cloud. Every single person is someone’s son or daughter. If you hurt them, they will feel pain.

 

Click on these links to read up on anti-gay or homophobic bullying:

 

www.safeschoolscoalition.org/Anti-GayBullying_Whats-theBigDeal.pdf

www.nmha.org/go/information/get-info/children-s-mental-health/bullying-and-gay-youth

www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070330/bullying-targets-lesbian-gay-teens

Gakina-awiiya (We Are All Related),

Chief Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree
www.thetalltrees.com

“Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth, and heal each other.”   – Ojibwe prayer

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