COHOES — In the wake of two examples of cyber bullying at the Cohoes City School District, a workshop was held Thursday about how to recognize and combat all types of bullying.
Two false Facebook pages were made recently that were called the “Cohoes Flame” and the “Cohoes Tramp.” The inaccurate and disrespectful pages focused on the pictured students and made inappropriate and untrue statements about sexual aspects of their lives, according to Mayor John McDonald, who has been working with the district and the police on the case, which could become the first that uses a new cyber bullying law passed by the Albany County Legislature in November.
Under the new law, the alleged bully, or bullies in this case, could face a misdemeanor penalty of $1,000 or a year in jail.
Tenth grader Rebecca, who was at the meeting and who did not want to use her last name, said there was a third Facebook page called “Cohoes Verses,” which targeted about 20 students and discussed who would win in a fight.
“The pages were messed up,” she said. ”If they have the free time to put these pages up, they should have the free time to say these things to the students’ faces.”
The pages have now been taken down by Facebook since area officials contacted the company about the bullying. Police are now in the process of obtaining the information of the person or people who posted the information, according to McDonald.
At Thursday night’s meeting, which attracted about 80 parents, students, and community members, experts in the field discussed that bullies usually believe they are superior to others and sometimes get satisfaction from others’ suffering. And those who are bullied normally have a position of relative weakness like a disability or a different sexual orientation.
Those who are bullied usually do not fight back and lack assertiveness, said Amanda Nickerson, noting that these did not apply to all bullies or bullied students. Nickerson is an associate professor and program director in the Division of School Psychology for the School of Education at the University at Albany.
She said the best way to discourage and eliminate bullying was to work together. This could be done by parents talking with their kids or reading anti-bullying books. Peers should not join in on the bullying and should speak up if it is safe. And, once a bully is caught, appropriate consequences should be given with a goal and intervention plan, she said.
The meeting had been scheduled prior to the recent cyber bullying coming to light, officials said.
Cyber bullying affects students in a number of ways, according to Kelly Schermerhorn, a model schools coordinator with Questar III. She said students surveyed said they did not want to go to school and had high anxiety.
“This is to inform you, not to scare you,” said Schermerhorn. She said the definition of cyber bullying is the repeated use of informational technology to deliberating harass or intimidate others.
This is a similar definition adopted by the Albany County Legislature in its cyber bullying law. “Cyber bullying follows you, unlike a playground scuffle,” said Schermerhorn.
She said cyber bullying occurs through emails, instant messaging, websites, blogs, and social media, like Facebook.
Cyber bullies may be known to the victim or an online stranger, and some teens think of this bullying as a game. Schermerhorn recommended using privacy settings on Facebook and not posting inappropriate material. Facebook officials also say not to add friends on Facebook who are strangers and to report documented bullying.
Danielle Sanzone may be reached at 270-1292, @DanielleSanzone on Twitter, or by email at dsanzone@troyrecord.com.
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Article source: http://troyrecord.com/articles/2011/01/13/news/doc4d2fbe4e90928167225503.txt
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