What a frightening world our kids are growing up in
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Lots of media coverage at the moment (and rightly so) about online bullying to coincide with Anti Bullying Week (w/c 16 November).
Today’s stats from the charity BeatBullying make alarming reading as it seems that there is no hiding place for youngsters. Bullying has always taken place but it in the past was more likely to be confined to the school playground; however, now insidious and cruel young people are creating hate sites and saying things that they probably wouldn’t dare say face to face via social networking sites and instant messenger services on an unprecedented scale (2/3rds of the 2000 children age 11 – 18 surveyed had seen some form of online bullying!).
Parents have to take more control with both the bullies and the bullied. They should discuss openly the consequences of bullying with their kids and keep a more watchful eye on their children’s computer activities to spot any tell tale signs of abuse. Checking what your kids do on the home computer may seem like an infringement of their privacy but how would you feel if your child was responsible for causing a potentially devastating outcome or was at the receiving end of this sort of behaviour?
