Bullying can take place almost anywhere, but one of latest popular sites for such abuse is the Internet.
So, Community High School District 218 plans to host a program April 28 on cyber bullying to help ease the problem.
The district, with assistance from the INSPIRE Neuropsychology Clinic, will hold the program 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Shepard High School, 13049 S. Ridgeland Ave. in Palos Heights. The free event, which is geared for parents and students at Shepard, Eisenhower and Richards high schools, is open to the public.
Some Shepard students recently wore “No More Bullying” T-shirts to draw attention to the problem.
“The adverse cyber stress that our youth is being subjected to today will have long term effects on their quality of life,” said Alsip Police Chief Christopher Radz, who will be a speaker at the event. “As the cyber bullying epidemic spreads in plain view, it is very easy for uninformed parents to unintentionally mishandle the situation when it reaches crisis, because the generation gap causes a misinterpretation of the cyber bullying of today verses the bullying of yesterday.”
At the event, parents and students learn what is considered cyber bullying, how to prevent it, and how to intervene when it occurs, said the event’s officials.
Cyber-bullying can include rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites or fake profile pages on sites, such as Facebook, officials said.
“Internet crimes are on the up-kick and parents cannot keep up with what their kids are doing on a day-to-day basis on social media,” said Diana Uchiyama, a clinical psychologist who is director of the INSPIRE Neuropsychology Clinic in Oak Lawn. “This presentation will teach them how to talk to their children about protecting themselves and understanding what forms of social media are really out there.”
The clinic aids in specialized psychological support for students within the district exhibiting significant academic, social-emotional, and/or behavioral difficulties, unable to meet classroom demands and have not responded to multiple levels of interventions. The clinic also is starting to focus on cyber bullying.
Uchiyama said cyber bullying is different than direct bullying. Cyber bullying victims are often bullied in person, as well. Additionally, youth have more difficulty getting away from cyber bullying. Unlike traditional bullying, cyber bullying can happen 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and reach youths when they are alone. Cyber bullying messages and images can be posted anonymously and distributed quickly to a very wide audience. It can be difficult and sometimes impossible to trace the source, event officials said.
“Kids are contacting others via social media, assuming the people they are talking to are their age,” Uchiyama said. “In certain scenarios, this can lead to cyber-bullying or luring of children over the Internet. In cases of cyber bullying, there are also . . . risk-taking behavior that the child may not have been drawn to otherwise.”
Radz said: “Information is power for parents, when it comes to the cyber world. The area where adult knowledge ends and our children’s knowledge goes well beyond is where some terrible things can happen.”
Kelly White is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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