Colton School District Website Raises Cyberbullying Awareness and Prevention

With the prominent use of mobile devices and technology, teenage students are more susceptible to harassment than ever before through cyberbullying. The Colton Joint Unified School District on its website has posted a guide to help educate students, parents, teachers and the public on characteristics of cyberbullying in order to lower the statistic of those being harassed. According to statistics provided on the CJUSD website, attributed to Internetsafety101.org, “Forty-three percent of teens aged 13 to 17 report that they have experienced some sort of cyberbullying in the past year.” This statistic sheds light on the need for assistance and the attention parents and teachers must give to students who are bullied, especially via the internet. A general definition of electronic bullying provides clarity about the nature of bullying and how it can be detected: “'Bullying' means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act, directed toward one or more pupils.” The CJUSD website provides information and specific examples of cyberbullying which can include gossip, exclusion, impersonating, stalking, threatening and more. Additionally, the CJUSD website uses statistics provided by the American Osteopathic Association 2011, stating, "Eighty-five percent of parents of teens aged 13 to 17 report their child has a social networking account." Electronic bullying is defined by the CJUSD on its website as "the transmission, by means of an electronic device, including but not limited to, a telephone, wireless telephone, or other wireless communication device, computer or pager." Acts of electronic bullying can take place in the form of a message, text, sound or image; or a post on a social networking site, including posting to or creating a "burn page," an Internet website created for the purpose of bullying. Cyberbullying can also mean creating a credible impersonation of another actual person for the purpose of bullying. The website states that "credible impersonation means to knowingly and without consent impersonate a [person] for the purpose of bullying and such that another [person] would reasonably believe, or has reasonably believed, that the [person] was or is the [person] who was impersonated." This includes making false social networking profiles. The website also offers resources such as video links, safety tips and strategies for preventing cyberbullying. Parents and teachers, specifically, are given the tools to be aware of their child's social media usages and monitoring their behaviors. Students who are victims of cyberbullying are encouraged to first contact their school administrator, then the Student Services Department if they feel the issue has not been resolved.