It is not just on the playground, anymore. Bullying is now being
reported from chat rooms, e-mails, instant messages, and even mobile
phone text messages. Like typical bullying, it is a problem. But unlike
typical bullying, now the bully can remain anonymous while invading the
victim’s home.

Reports seem to indicate that most girl-to-girl bullying concerns
fashion choices and most boy-to-boy bullying attacks comment on the
victim’s sexual orientation.

One boy received this message: “The Bible says homos should burn at
the stake. So you come near me, I am gonna light you up.” Obviously
this is just a threat (not to mention an inaccurate statement).
However, such messages can leave a major impact on the victim. The
victim in that case then commented that “It’s my personal space and
it’s the computer and I’m supposed to feel semi-safe on the computer
because I’m just at home. And they made me feel unsafe.”

Another high-tech bullying technique, now, is to use cell phones
with cameras to take inappropriate, embarrassing, or unwilling pictures
of victims. These pictures may easily end up being e-mailed to other
children. The pictures can even be posted on kids’ online journals or
on a teen or school forum, where other children can comment about the
picture, further humiliating the victim.

Bullying has been a problem for a long time, and there are still no
ways to fully prevent it. Now, with advancing technology, high
computer-literacy, and the anonymity of the Internet, bullying is
worse than ever.

In fact, in an absolutely tragic story, a young boy went to the
extent of committing suicide to escape his bullies. Daniel Scruggs, age
12, was a victim of relentless bullying at school. The boy’s mother
says “He was a typical 12 year-old. He was small for his age. He was
into science and magic,” says Scruggs. The boy was a typical fit to be
bullied; he was more intelligent than his peers, but was smaller in
size.

“People would push him off bleachers, put ‘kick me’ signs on his
back, push him around and yell at him,” says Melissa Smith, a student at
Daniel’s school. She continued, “Every day he was in school
he was bullied… Sometimes teachers would tell the bullies to stop,
but other times, they would just dismiss it. They would act like
nothing was going on.”

However, the boy was not only a bullying victim. The boy’s mother,
Mrs. Scruggs, is now being charged with keeping an unfit home for her
children, and for neglecting to get her son the proper medical and
psychological help he needed. So, not only was the child harassed to
extremities every day in school, he came home to a filthy - and likely
unhappy - home.

Bullying was obviously a huge contributor in Daniel Scruggs’
suicide. But we must keep in mind that while the bullying might be
bearable, combined with other things it may add up to a devastating
result. A result not even the bullies really want.

If you suspect your child is being bullied, please acknowledge the
situation and take action. Call the school, the bullies’ parents,
anyone else you can think of. If the school does not want to help, call
the Board of Education directly. The governor’s office can help, too.
If you fight for it, you can put a stop to your child being bullied and
help him or her live out a happy childhood and go on to be a successful adult.

Sources:
CBS News I
singleparents.about.com
CBS News II

For Daniel Scruggs.

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