- Scott, a Grade 9 student, transferred to a new school halfway through the semester. He had trouble making friends until he discovered the school’s Facebook network. Most of the other students on Facebook responded to his “friend” requests and he soon began to feel more included, and made friends with some of them at school as well.
After a while, though, Scott noticed that his friends list was shrinking as people removed him from their friends lists. He was puzzled by this at first until one of his offline friends told him that Colin, a Grade 11 student, had gotten angry at Scott because he had seen Scott talking to Linda, Colin’s ex-girlfriend. Colin had begun to pressure everyone he knew to remove Scott and Linda from their friends lists on Facebook, and to ignore them at school as well.
One afternoon in the computer lab, Scott got more and more angry at Colin and his friends. Since he had finished his work for the period, he decided to start a Facebook group called “Why I Hate Colin,” and he invited everyone still on his friends list to join it. It turned out that there were quite a few people at the school who did not like Colin and his friends, and Scott’s group grew quickly. Whenever the message traffic on the group slowed, Scott would try to boost it by posting some shocking accusation about Colin, such as suggesting that he had cheated on Linda or that he had hit her when they were dating (Linda was not involved in the group, and had never said any such thing).
Soon other members of the group started to make their own accusations and suggestions about Colin, some even saying that Colin should have water balloons thrown at him when he went up the main stairway. Scott responded to that suggestion, saying rocks should be thrown instead.
After a few weeks, one of Colin’s friends discovered the group and reported it to him. Colin told his parents and they decided to report it to the principal and keep him out of school until things had been worked out, as well as to report what Scott had done to the police. - Two adolescent girls have been forced to leave one of sydney's elite private schools because of cyber bullying. The girls were taken out of Ascham School after they published material on the social networking website, My space, containing personal and possibly defamatory information about their classmates. The posting included information about the girls'alleged sexual proclivities, drinking, drug use and relationships. A parent of one of the girls was horrified when strange boys began approaching her in public.
Inspirational use of Facebook:
- To talk to friends overseas.
- To get in touch with friends whom you have lost contact with.
- Leave a inspirational note to encourage your friends.
- Tell your friends how to use Facebook safely.
- Tell your friends about real cases about people who have been cyber bullied.
Cyber wellness tips:
- Do not reveal your real name.
- Do not reveal your home telephone number.
- Do not reveal you
r address. - Do not reveal your hand phone number.
- Do not reveal your school and when you finish school at.
- Think twice before you post your photo.
- Do not reveal where you usually like to hang out.
- Do not take any information you receive from a new online contact at face value. The internet makes it easy for people to say or do things the would never say or do in public or in face-to-face interactions. Protecting yourself is the smart thing to do.
r address.Dangers of using Facebook:
- People can save the link of the web page in which your face is on and inappropriately use it.
- If you reveal your address, everyone will know where you live and someone might go to your house for the wrong reasons.
- If you reveal your hand phone number, people can harass you and send you inappropriate messages.
- If you reveal the time that your school usually end school at, people can stalk you or even do unthinkable things to you.
- If you post your photo online, strangers can locate you offline and do unwanted things to you.
- If you reveal where you usually hang out, strangers can locate you quite easily.
Interesting facts:
- You can still be yourself on Facebook even though you are abiding by these safety rules.
- You can still have fun with your friends on Facebook, MSN etc. even if you are abiding by these rules.
- You can still associate with strangers on the internet and become friends but just do not give out too personal information.
So have fun on the internet and not forgetting the safety rules!
