Online bullying affecting many teens, area educators say

Megan Meier. Ryan Halligan. Alexis Pilkington.

These teens have two things in common: They were victims of cyberbullying, and they took their own lives.

Pilkington, 17, of Long Island, N.Y., killed herself in March in the wake of repeated taunts on social networking sites. Halligan, a Vermont eighth-grader, committed suicide in 2003 after he was "threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly."

Meier, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., was 13 when she hanged herself in 2006, following a hoax on MySpace involving an adult neighbor, Lori Drew. Prosecutors had charged that Drew set up a phony profile to flirt with, befriend and then abandon Meier, precipitating the teen's death. Computer fraud convictions against Drew were thrown out in 2009, but the case has spurred a federal bill on cyberbullying.

While suicides and other forms of violence are rare final acts of cyberbullying, Southeast Missouri educators and technology experts say cyberspace threats and attacks are emotionally wounding a significant portion of the teen population.

Defining the problem

While there is disagreement on the definition, cyberbullying "basically is when someone repeatedly harasses, mistreats or makes fun of another person online or while using cell phones or other electronic devices," according to the Cyberbullying Research Center. It's moving the playground bully online, and the consequences, some say, can be more severe.

"Cyberbullying can be worse because there's no escape," said Justin W. Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center. "When I was in middle school and I was bullied, I could go home forget about it for 18 hours."

Now cyberbullies can instantly and repeatedly attack their victims through Facebook or text messaging.

"The comments that are made through technology are even more harsh and damaging than they might be face to face because it is buffered by the shield of technology," said Mike Cowan, principal of Cape Girardeau Central High School. "Some of the comments I've read that students have shared with me are just harrowing. The things they say are demeaning, even getting into the point of threatening."

Cowan said the frequency of cyberbullying is difficult to track, but incidents are occurring much more often than they were a year or two ago.

"I think it is becoming fairly commonplace among high school students," he said, adding that cyberbullying is moving into the junior and middle schools.

Tracking the numbers

Despite some high-profile cases, researchers say cyberbullying incidents have remained fairly steady in recent years.

The latest data from the Pew Research Center's Pew Internet & American Life Project show nearly one-third of teens have experienced some form of online harassment. The study found about 13 percent of teens have received a threatening message. Adolescent girls are significantly more likely to experience cyberbullying than boys.

"Research suggests most harassment online is minors perpetrating against other minors, where a person knows who the other person is," said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist with the Pew Research Center.

Lenhart said research varies widely because of the lack of agreement on cyberbullying's definition.

Profile of a cyberbully

The cyberbully has defied standard generalizations. Patchin said when he first started studying the issue it was thought the traditional bullying victim would become a cyberbully.

"Someone who was small, maybe socially incompetent but smart, but that's not what we found," he said. "What we found is those who bullied at school bully online and those who are bullied at school are bullied online."

While suicides spawned by cyberbullying may be rare, recent research finds a connection between the experience and suicidal thoughts, Patchin said. Victims are two and a half times as likely to consider suicide, according to the center's study.

"Teens who have low self-esteem are more likely to be cyberbullied and to be cyberbullies," Patchin said.

Lagging laws

A number of states, including Missouri, have adopted laws aimed at cyberbullying.

Missouri's law updated state harassment laws to include computers and electronic devices as vehicles of harassing behavior. In Missouri, cyberbullying is a misdemeanor for anyone 20 or younger convicted of the crime and a felony for anyone 21 or over, according to the state's attorney general's office.

A federal law remains stalled in Congress, however. Researchers like Patchin say state and federal laws have not kept up with the changing technologies, with jurisdictions either overreacting or writing legislation that is outdated and unresponsive.

Cyberbullying is being attacked at the school level, however. Cape Girardeau Central High School, like other high schools, has enacted policies on computer and mobile technology. Students who violate the policies at school are prohibited to use the technology, and face disciplinary action.

On the educational front, the Cape Girardeau School District has scheduled Megan Meier's mother, Tina, to speak at the high school, junior high and middle school next month.

"We are very excited to have her on our campus, but we regret it is that kind of topic we have to address," Cowan said. "It's just the reality of day we live in."

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1000 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, MO