Introduction

“The Internet is always a willing listener, any time of the day or night.”

—Rachel Dretzin, “Growing Up Online,” PBS Frontline, 2008

Technology is likely part of your natural environment as a teen today. You were born into a technology-rich “wired” world, heavily influenced by the Internet. Consider these statistics:

• 16 million children ages 2 to 11 were online in May 2009. The 2- to 4-year-olds were exposed to the Internet while on their parents’ laps in front of a computer.
• Among 12- to 14-year-olds in the United States, 88% use the Internet. This figure trails Great Britain (100%), Israel (98%), and the Czech Republic (96%).
• More than 90% of teens are online and more than half of them have profiles on social networking sites.
• 85% of teens communicate through digital writing.
• 85% of high school students spend at least one hour daily on the Internet.

• France has made access to the Internet a “human right.”
• Internet access is a “legal right” in Finland as of July 2010.
• In 2009, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to provide every student in public elementary school with a computer through The One Laptop Per Child program.

This Web-based culture has resulted in exciting new ways to communicate, learn, socialize, stay informed, entertain yourself, and foster your creativity. However, it has also presented new challenges for you and your friends that were not faced by your parents or grandparents, or perhaps even by your older siblings. For example, you may be asking yourself daily questions such as:

“Are there limits to what I can do once I’m online?”

“How do I know who sees information once I post it on a Web site?”

“Can I share my feelings online about others—my classmates, teachers, or principal—without getting into trouble?”

“Can my school discipline me for what I do on my cell phone or my home computer?”

“Are there things I should never post or send online?”

The growth of the Internet has added a new complexity to issues regarding your free expression as a student—both on and off school grounds. And in addition to opening up positive new ways to communicate, it has also given rise to endless new ways to threaten, harass, abuse, insult, and bully others. Gone are the days when bullying meant a shove in the hallway or an insult yelled across a classroom. Bullying has entered the digital age. With the click of a button or touch of a screen, a photo, video, or conversation can be shared with a few people in an email or text . . . or broadcast to millions on a Web site. Pictures and messages that used to be scribbled on paper and passed in class are now posted online.

A New Breed of Bully
In Singapore, a 16-year-old girl created fake profiles on MySpace and Facebook in order to befriend kids she didn’t like at school. Once she connected with the kids, she turned on them with nasty insults. “The new breed of bullies is narcissistic (self-centered). They treat the Internet as their stage, with an instant audience of thousands—or even millions,” said Dr. Carol Balhetchet of Singapore Children’s Society.

Have you ever received a hurtful email, text, or instant message? Has someone made cruel comments about you on an online profile or blog? Has someone taken a picture or video of you at school or outside of school and posted it on a Web site like YouTube, MySpace, or Facebook? Have you sent what you thought was a personal message to a friend and later found out it’s all over your school? And finally, have you ever done any of these to someone else? If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, you’ve been involved in cyberbullying.

• 85% of middle school children report being cyberbullied at least once.
• 32% of American teens who use the Internet report some form of online harassment.
• In a recent study, 72% of participants, ages 12 to 17, claimed they knew who was doing the cyberbullying.

Most cyberbullying involving kids and teens is done by their peers and occurs as early as 2nd grade. Cyberbullying takes many forms, with the most common being:

• sending insulting or threatening emails, texts, or instant messages directly to someone using a computer, cell phone, or other e-communication device
• spreading hateful comments about someone through emails, blogs, online profiles, or chat rooms
• stealing passwords and sending out threatening messages using a false identity
• building a Web site targeting specific people

“Kids don't know how common cyberbullying is, even among their best friends.”

—Professor Jaana Juvonen, Developmental Psychology Program Chair, UCLA

This book provides an inside, in-depth look at the current cyberbullying epidemic. Presented here are real cases of tweens and teens who were harassed or caught harassing others online, on camera, in a text, or using a cell phone. Some cases were harmless pranks or creative musings, while others caused serious emotional and physical injury to others. Your teachers, school administrators, and parents may be up to their ears in information about monitoring your use of the Internet and cell phones.

It’s time for you to know about what’s happening to your peers, learn what your legal rights are, and decide for yourself how you will use these devices for your benefit.

Most of the teens discussed in this book engaged in cyberbullying behavior, whether their target was another person or the school in general. And each of the teens paid a price, even those who eventually won their cases in court. Many served suspension days; others were hospitalized for evaluation or screened by a doctor or psychologist; some were banned from sports or other activities; and a few were expelled from school or jailed. In some manner, each teen and his or her family were adversely affected due to consequences at school, police involvement, legal proceedings, and, in a few cases, needing to relocate to another city.

In addition to perpetrators, several victims of cyberbullying are also discussed here, including Megan Meier, Rachael Neblett, Jessica Logan, Sam Leeson, Holly Grogan, Megan Gillan, Jeffrey Johnston, and Ryan Patrick Halligan. For these teens, experiences of being bullied online led to devastating ends. The Internet is a modern wonder with unlimited potential . . . but if abused it can also wreak havoc on individuals, families, schools, and communities. Virtual-world speech often carries real-world consequences.

It’s now more important than ever for you to think before you click.

Attempts were made to personally interview each of the teens whose cases are presented in this book. Their thoughts and comments are reported in the “What Is ____ Doing Now?” section of each chapter. Thanks to all who contributed to this endeavor, and good luck in your current pursuits.

I’m always interested in hearing from teens about their experiences and questions. If you’d like to get in touch with me, you can contact me in care of:

Free Spirit Publishing

217 Fifth Avenue North, Suite 200

Minneapolis, MN 55401-1299

Or you can email me at help4kids@freespirit.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

—Tom Jacobs, J.D.

One Teen’s Comments About the Internet
To be a teen is to be in the process of creating the adult you will one day become. Every new thing you are exposed to might be compared to a seed that, depending on whether it’s one of the few that you choose to cultivate, may blossom in your adulthood.

Until very recently, these “seeds” were provided only by a teen’s direct surroundings and the relatively limited and pre-selected things found in books and magazines, and on the radio and television. However, teens today have found a channel through which they can expose themselves to almost anything with just a click of a mouse. The Internet has changed our world immeasurably, affecting us socially and psychologically probably more than any other invention, and propelling us into a new age driven entirely by information.

With the aid of the Internet, we can observe the world as we might observe something through a glass wall, and though this cannot even begin to compare to learning about and experiencing things directly, seeing something through a glass wall is better than not seeing it at all. In this way, teens today are able to endow themselves with many more “seeds” than those of previous generations could have imagined.

The result—scary to some and inspiring to others—is that it’s easier than ever for kids to grow into an adult that is entirely different from the people among whom they were brought up. Growing up has never been devoid of bad influences, and the fact is that most teens slip up some time in their lives—whether they grew up in the 21st century or in the 1st. As the saying goes:
“With freedom comes responsibility.” Part of being a teen is learning to have the responsibility to make the right decisions.

The Internet, like the world it imitates, is full of terrible and fantastic things, allowing young people more freedom than ever to choose who they will become, and, essentially, redefining what it is to be a teenager.
—Theodora Ballew, freshman at North High School, Phoenix, Arizona, 2008