Annette Reiter on Cyberbullying

OurBlook interview with family therapist Annette Reiter

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, called for new federal laws to define and deal with cyberbullying and cyberharassment. Do you think such laws are necessary or unnecessary, and why?

AR: Mr. Wales is certainly much more qualified in the world of the Internet than I am and I would trust his judgment on this matter. But my concerns would be how will the current laws and new laws be enforced? It would seem that we would need some form of Internet patrol cars to investigate and prevent such matters. This could take time to develop and implement, and in the meantime, we need to help create a safe Internet for our children. Some recent research by Drs. Hinduha and Patchin (www.cyberbullying.us) suggests that increase in public education though schools may have a more immediate effect on decreasing the frequency of these crimes and increase safe social networking. I hope your readers take time to visit their website and review the "Top Ten Tips for Parents " to respond and prevent cyberbullying.

If such laws would be good, what might they say, and what would be the drawbacks and/or difficulties in composing them?

AR: I would like to see schools take the lead on teaching, preventing and possibly enforcing cyberbullying regulation. It seems that parents have often gone to their schools to get help in these cases. Since cyberbullying takes place off-campus and outside of school, the schools are often sued for exceeding their authority and even, if you can believe it, violating the student's free speech. Regardless, I believe our schools are still a fantastic resource to teach what I like to call "Digital Citizenship" which includes cyberethics and the law. I would encourage schools to add a provision to their acceptable use policy reserving the right to discipline the student for actions taken off-campus if they have any adverse effect on the safety and well-being of a student while in school. I believe this will make it contractual, and not a constitutional law issue.

Do you have any first-hand experience ... either yourself or through your patients ... of the impact of cyberbullying?

AR: Unfortunately, I have had many young clients where "sexting" has gone awry and been terribly misused. These incidents are devastating to the children and parents ... rarely has the law gotten involved but disciplinary action by parents and private schools has been taken. Young people are using this new technology to flirt, connect and explore their sexuality. Unfortunately, there are rarely adults in this virtual world to supervise and educate. What used to happen at the ice cream shop or on the downtown strip on Friday and Saturday nights, where everyone was watching, now is secluded in a virtual world with limited input from the outside world.

Do you make a distinction between online material and printed material, or should any new laws be tailored just for online?

AR: "Cyberbullying" is a term that is used to define harassment by Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. Since all of that information can be printed, I believe that it naturally includes printed material.

Many people feel that any regulation of the Internet should be done informally by users, not formally by government. Your thoughts?

AR: Well, I think for the most part that is what we have right now, and it is not working to my level of satisfaction. My grandmother used to say "a good lock and key keeps an honest man honest." Humans seem to require some social limits to keep lines between good and bad behavior. Often this is the law.

Besides new laws, if needed, what else can parents, children or any present or potential victims do if they are targeted by cyberbullies?

AR: Parents need to get involved. Whenever I am speaking to a group of parents, I always get the question, "Why do I have to text? I hate it." As parents and concerned adults, we need to embrace this new world of technology in order to learn to navigate it and model appropriate usage. When I was in third grade, my teacher, Mrs. Langley, taught us to never write anything about anyone unless it could stand to the test of being repeated a million times. "The written word never dies," she stated. This still applies today. Parents, teachers and schools need to get involved and take responsibility for teaching values, morals and actions in all forms of social interaction.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this issue?

AR: Your readers may want to visit other informative web sites like www.StopCyberbullying.org to find out more information about prevention. Additionally, in my latest book, "Launching, Parenting to College & Beyond" due out in March, I have a chapter on Teens and Technology. I hope to have both of these linked to my website shortly.  Thank you.

Annette Reiter is a marriage and family therapist in St. Petersburg, Fl. She has a master's degree in marriage, family and child counseling from the University of San Diego.

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Comments (1)

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written by Trista, July 05, 2010

Difficulties arise in the lives of us all. What is most important is dealing with the hard times,

coping with the changes, and getting through to the other side where the sun is still shining

just for you.

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