Technology is wonderful. I would not be excited to go backwards 20 or 30 years. The world of information, communication, research have benefited medicine, human relations, health and global understanding just to mention a few.
The Social Network is here to stay. Dealing with it responsibly and safely is important. Just as with cars and other potentially dangerous items, our young people make some strange decisions and take actions that seem harmless at the moment. Children have said nasty things to one another for a few dozen centuries. One of the things that make now more harmful is that the nastiness doesn't go away and is not limited to the very few who might be around to hear it.
An insult on Facebook stays on Facebook. It doesn't matter that you do not even live in the same state, you can read that insult about someone miles away and sometimes years away. That degrading picture someone put together with photo software goes from your friend to mine to hundreds and thousands of others with the click of a key. And it is repeated and repeated and rethought and reworded and adjusted for humor - many times by people who know none of the ones involved in the original post.
If you believe your son or daughter is involved or the victim of cyberbullying you need to get involved. Stop name calling and other slurs on the Internet just as you would in person. Hiding behind a screen is not an open season on foul language or personal insults. Humor does not make fun of another person. Joking is not harmful and mean.
If you are interested in what others are doing there are some websites that might provide some ideas: connectsafely.org; stopcyberbulling.org; and commonsensemedia.org.
If your daughter or son can't handle the freedom of the Internet, then take away the instrument. Take the phone or computer or ITouch or whatever. If the child is not able to demonstrate responsibility - take action.
If you son or daughter is the victim, be supportive of him/her. If you know the source you might want to talk directly to the parent. If that does not seem appropriate call the police. Do not erase potential evidence of harassment or threatening messages. Do not respond to nonsense. It takes two for it to be interesting. Don't get caught up trying to play one-up games.
Most of the time it starts innocently enough but escalates when feelings get hurt. So often it is one of the "he said/ she said" and goes round and round. That is why it needs to stop. Don't feed the hate loop.
Communicating with one another over great distances is wonderful. Staying in touch is a grand way to build community. Let's use the power of technology and instant information responsibly.
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