CyberBullying Article

Recently, there’s been a lot of coverage on the topic of cyberbullying in the mainstream media. This article in USA Today gives a good overview of the problem, and the many ways in which technology (e.g., instant messengers, email, websites) can be used to harass, and alter “the social lives of children at an age when they are especially vulnerable to insults.”

Although I have read a lot regarding this issue, I think this is the first article that I have seen which identifies the exclusion of children from Instant Messenger Buddy Lists as a form of bullying.

“Sometimes, excluding a classmate from buddy lists and online communities can be as damaging. What used to happen with cliques, with kids making others feel they don’t belong, is part of the Internet experience …”. I think that this point is valuable to consider as it’s not an example of what most people would identify as bullying, however, few would argue with the damage that can be done through exclusionary practice.