Cyber Bullying, New Zealand Style

A recent article from Stuff.co.nz reports on the growing dependency of young adult and teen New Zealanders on text messaging. In an interesting twist, it is discovered that teens expectations on the device/service is central to the social interactions of these teens. Seemingly, the awkwardness and shyness one tends to feel at this age are easy to overcome when the only eye contact made is with the LCD.

Of course, with the good comes the bad. Bullying continues to evolve. Whereas I originally mentioned (in my very first post no less) fear as one of the bullying techniques, this current crop seems to rely more on technology.

"Flooding" – text or cyber-bullying, where an inbox is inundated with messages making it impossible to send texts – was relatively common. It has been implicated in several teen suicides including that of Oamaru teen Daniel Gillies a year ago. Friends said Daniel, who suffered from a progressive bone disfigurement to his face, had received many nasty texts about his appearance.

Internet Safety Group director Liz Butterfield said texting was a perfect example of how a neutral technology could have both positive and negative effects. It had become a crucial way for young people to keep in touch but was also a tool for "antisocial behaviour".

Youngsters often did not report cyber-bullying because they thought their phones might be taken from them. "That's the worst thing parents can do. I don't think a lot of people understand how powerful a link texting has become for kids. It's better that they put control procedures in place."

Source: Stuff.co.nz, "Does your teen have text with strangers?" via Gizmodo

What's next? Virii?