KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: Cyber-Bullying

Cyber-Bullying

In a new survey from Temple University, 45% of school counselors surveyed say they aren't ready to handle cyber-bullying and only 20% of those counselors say their schools have effective cyber-bullying policies in place.

Childhood Psychologists say bullying online can be one of the most painful, pervasive and harmful behaviors for kids to face.

"You can never really get away from it, because even if you're not on the Internet checking out what people are saying about you, other people are," says Pediatrician Ken Haller.

Yet school social workers say they aren't equipped to handle the problem. Temple University researchers report that counselors, administrative staff and teachers have little training and information on cyber-bullying, which could be a liability.

And research from Penn State says that when bullying is chronic or severe, part of the blame lies with the teachers who either miss the signs, or dismiss it as normal teasing. 

"Teachers might go okay- that's okay we're joking cut it out- and move on," says School Counselor Kathryn Henry.

While cyber-bullying usually starts outside of school, the bullying behavior can carry over to the classroom.

18 year old Erica says, "There was a boy behind me kicking my seat and I was just like, 'Can you please stop?' And he wouldn't. I'm like, 'Please stop!' He's like, 'No, whore! Whore! Whore!' He was kicking my seat, and I just started crying."

Erica's mother, Linda Perloff, adds "She would walk down the halls in her school and kids would make these really disgusting gestures pretending to slit their wrists."

Experts say schools need clear cyber-bullying policies, coordinated communication about those policies and ongoing in-service training and bullying education programs for teachers to help solve these kinds of problems.