|
Read News
|
Pocono News Section
Alleged Cyberbullying in Carbondale
Alleged Cyberbullying in Carbondale - Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 04:23AM EST
Reported by: Mike Trim
Wednesday May 05 2010
CARBONDALE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- There's an apparent case of cyberbullying at Carbondale High School. A young girl says she is being targeted by a group of teens.
"Go die in a hole." "You're a scumbag." "Bet you felt stupid sitting there." They're just some of the posts on the student's account through a website.
These are internet messages a Carbondale teenager faces almost every day. The Carbondale Area student tells Eyewitness News, "You go to school thinking everyone hates you and that nobody likes you and you're all alone."
The high school student, who we're not revealing, showed us posts on the website formspring. com
She says they started after she was cut from the cheerleading squad. The student said, "It's not just for their amusement they're actually hurting people."
We've blacked out some of the messages because they're just too graphic.
The student's mother tries to keep her daughter in good spirits while making sense of this new generation of cyber bullies. The student's mother said,"It makes me feel horrible because i don't remember going through this before. it was nothing like this. people were face to face, they never had to hide behind a computer or behind paper or behind people. they would just come out and say it."
School administration wouldn't talk on camera about these messages. The superintendent tells Eyewitness News by phone all Carbondale schools aggressively enforce any case of bullying. In this case, the superintendent says there's no names attached to the messages.
With the anonymity of some websites, police prosecution is tough as well. Formspring's privacy policy doesn't make it mandatory for a sender to reveal their identity.
This student fears the damage will be permanent. The student said, "It's going to be there forever. they're not going to get rid of it. it's permanent, the damage that they're making for people."
The student hopes this story will help send a positive message urging anyone to think before they type. She says because an internet posting goes farther than you think.
We've found websites used to prevent cyberbullying. Visit stopcyberbullying. org and ncpc. org/cyberbullying for more information. | | |
|
|
|