Posted at: 01/13/2011 10:30 PM
Updated at: 01/13/2011 11:12 PM
By: Jessica Layton
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COHOES – Cohoes Police think they have a serious case of cyber bullying on their hands.
Didn’t know it was a crime? Now it is in Albany County.
Thursday evening students and parents packed the library for a bullying seminar at the high school, on the heels of the viscous Facebook incident.
Cohoes High School has been declared a “Bully Free Zone”. But colorful posters plastered throughout the hallways are of little comfort to those who’ve lived through the torment.
“I went through three days of hell, didn’t want to come out of my house,” says Sean Garner, a 17-year-old student at the school.
Garner says he was a victim in a recent cyber bullying case that Cohoes Police are now investigating. Somebody created a derogatory, nasty Facebook page with names and photos of at least eight students, male and female that was sexual in nature.
“I got called a rapist and a seducer, something you don’t really get over I guess,” says Garner.
“A lot of people were really hurt by it, because saying such horrible things about people created conflict between everybody,” says Mackenzie Gregory, a sophomore at the school
Cohoes Police Chief Bill Heslin was tipped off by some parents who called to ask if this kind of online torment was a crime. Turns out it may be. A new law in Albany County makes cyber bullying illegal.
“It’s complicated, it’s a new age,” says Chief Heslin. “We’re afraid of a disruption in school.”
A bullying seminar Thursday evening at the high school, for students and parents, was planned before the Facebook incident. Now, given the chaos and concern the case created, the timing is spot on.
“We want our students to take it seriously and know it will not be tolerated,” says Assistant Principal Bryan Wood.
Experts say too many students think cyber bullying is a game. Most of the time it happens outside of school. But the humiliation and the hurt are very much felt in the hallways.
“It’s horrible. No need for something like this to happen to kids,” says Garner.
Those derogatory pages on Facebook have been removed, but the social networking site has the records of who was involved and who created the site.
The police chief tells us they had to subpoena that information and as long as the investigation goes as planned, they will make an arrest and prosecute.
The punishment if convicted is up to a year in jail or up to a thousand dollar fine.
We also want to let you know we’ve posted a link on how to stop cyber bulling and what to do if you’ve been cyber bullied right here, at wnyt.com.
Article source: http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s1924575.shtml?cat=10114
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