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"I made fun
of people in chat rooms and said
bad words to them and said nasty
stuff to them, but I did not know
it would hurt his/her feelings."
13-year-old male student, Alabama
"Many times
in middle school, I have gotten
on the internet and gossiped about
friends. I have talked bad about
them behind their backs and just
really let out how I feel about
them. I have made fun of them, spread
rumors, and just basically anything
that can be considered a level of
bullying. These days, I look back
and feel a sense of regret. I have
gotten to know a lot of the people
I made fun of, and have come to
realize how great they are, in fact,
a lot of them are my best friends.
Bullying is not something that can
get permanent satisfaction, but
only temporary, and anything that
isn't final, is not worth having
or doing. I highly discourage cyberbullying,
bullying for that matter, and if
you look deep inside yourself before
bullying someone, you will realize
that you are really just trying
to bully yourself."
17-year-old male student, Texas
"I was on
a chat room and someone was blocking
out everyone's messages and put
a virus in the chat room because
he sent a picture to this girl of
him, and she sent it around. He
wasn't the prettiest face so people
picked at and rejected him. I asked
him to please stop the virus thing,
but he didn't and called me a bad
name. So there it started. At first
I felt sorry for him, but after
that; I wanted to crush him. I felt
powerful and strong. I felt angry."
13-year-old female student, Alabama
"On time
my friend and I got on the internet
and we made up a fake name and were
teasing people on the internet.
I went back to school and found
out that one of my friends was one
of the people we were teasing. After
that I stopped bullying people and
I started helping people."
14-year-old female student, Maryland
"One of my
friends made a website about another
person and in a way I thought it
was funny at first, but then when
I really thought about it and I
put myself in that person's shoes,
it hurt."
16-year-old male student, Florida
"I was chatting
online with my friend Beth*, and
this 19 year old started talking
to me like knew me. So I felt scared.
And he said he knew where I lived.
So I moved. That can be a lesson
to don't talk or write online because
they could find you and kill or
try to touch you in a bad way. So
watch out who you talk to online."
18-year-old female student, Indiana
*Name changed
"I was with
my cousin on the computer watching
her talk to her boyfriend online
when her boyfriend said that he
knew that I was there and that he
was outside the window with a gun
pointed at my head. I got so scared
I started to cry. Then he started
writing 'I'm going to pull the trigger'
and I told my cousin to tell him
to stop. Then she just started laughing
a whole lot while I was crying."
11-year-old female student, Texas
"I've been
a victim. I was asked out by my
current boyfriend and once a few
people found out, my online diary
had hate messages pouring in anonymously.
People were scared to show their
disapproval of anything I did to
my face and therefore littered my
diary with threats and insults that
really made me scared of everyone
in real life. I didn't know who
the anonymous people were but I
knew they were my friends at school
and in the community. I felt like
I was in the dark and alone."
17-year-old female student
"My ex-friend
used to e-mail me back and forth.
I trusted her and I sent her a personal
e-mail and she sent it to the school's
computer class where I was, and
all my classmates read it and I
felt as if the whole world was coming
down on me. I was never friends
with her again and I never trusted
her after that."
14-year-old female student, Arizona
"This year
I was talking with my friends on
America Online's Instant Messaging
program, when suddenly a stranger
sent a message to me. Unaware of
the danger and possible bullying
that exists in cyberspace, I responded
with a polite "Hello."
The stranger said "I know where
you live and I'm coming for you."
Now extremely alarmed, I said "please
leave me alone," but the stranger
wouldn't listen. He or she kept
making crude comments so I singed
off and changed my screen name."
16-year-old male student, Florida
"No, I have
never participated in cyberbullying,
but I have seen evidence of it on
people's web-sites. I felt embarrassed
for the victim because there is
not much they can do to stop it,
especially if it is spread behind
their back. I similarly felt embarrassed
for the bully's actions because
it shows their immaturity and lack
of self-esteem."
17-year-old female student, Maryland
"Cyberbullying
is really just making fun of someone.
But it also hurts the kid's feeling
to be talked that way. Sometimes
if your friends just want to joke
and play games and call you like
stupid or something, but it's your
friend - no big deal. But when a
bully gets in to it he knows that
he is going to try to make a kid's
life miserable."
13-year-old male student, Pennsylvania
"I have never
participated in cyberbullying. But
sometimes I talk to my friend(s)
and gossip or talk about the latest
rumors. But now that I am older
I rethink everything I do, so therefore
I don't do it no more. One thing
that keeps me on the right track
is by just thinking about me being
in their shoes and the emotions
that I would feel."
13-year-old female student, Pennsylvania
"I haven't
participated, but as a former moderator
of an online message board, I've
definitely seen it done. I honestly
suspect cyberbullying is easier,
in many ways, than regular bullying.
It's difficult to punish someone
for cruel behavior online, and it's
hard for a bully to see any hurt
feelings or humanity in an anonymous
screen name from halfway across
the country."
17-year-old female student, Kansas
"I haven't,
but the person who always picks
on my friend has. At school the
bully went into my friend's book
bag and took an embarrassing photo.
Then he took it home and put it
on his computer and printed it on
several pieces of paper and the
next day he handed them out to the
class. He got in a lot of trouble."
12-year-old male student, Pennsylvania
"I never
participated in cyberbullying, but
I am dating a guy who once created
a website to talk about other people
that he didn't like and make up
stuff about them. I was really upset
and asked him to stop, but it made
him happy. Finally, he stopped when
he realized he was hurting me and
not just the people that he was
talking about."
18-year-old female student, Kansas
"I never
participated in it but I know of
people who have. My cousin was once
tricked by his "friends".
They made up a screen-name and pretended
to be a girl that was interested
in my cousin. After talking to my
cousin for some time, they asked
him to meet "her" at the
mall. My friend went to the mall
alone and waited where they planned
to meet for hours. The mall finally
closed and he went home. The next
day at school everybody knew about
it and was making fun of him. This
made me feel furious. Immediately
I wanted to find out who did this
to him and get revenge. I never
found out. But now that I think
of it, it's pretty sad for somebody
to do that. If they get satisfaction
out of a low act as that, the so
be it. Someday, they will get what's
coming for them."
17-year-old male student, Texas
"Someone
I know made a website about a girl
and said that it was for the people
who hated her. They sort of made
it because she was mean and teases
a lot of people. I feel bad because
they don't really know her, and
if you get on her good side, she
is nice."
12-year-old female student, California
"Well, I
had a friend and this girl hated
my friend. This girl was very popular
and since she lived in a different
town, she couldn't physically fight
her. Although, she would cuss and
yell and threaten my friend online.
She kept calling my friend and saying
that people were going to beat her
up. Then one day this girl got into
my friend's account for chatting.
She told all her friends rumors
and made all her friends mad at
her. Then she deleted all the friends
on her buddy list. She thought this
was funny and the girl thought she
was stronger than my friend. She
encouraged herself to do more horrible
things. I didn't let her do anymore.
She was making my friend cry every
single night. The next day I called
this girl on the phone and I made
her talk to my friend. They had
some yelling and cussing but not
much. They finally ended and they
had sorted things out. No they weren't
going to be friends, but they weren't
going to be enemies either. They
were just going to ignore each other
and forget that they ever knew each
other. To me that's better than
fighting every single day. I felt
so good that I helped not one, but
2 people! I was so proud of myself."
12-year-old female student, Arizona
"Yes
I have witnessed cyberbullying.
Many people do this because they
will "talk more trash"
on the computer then they would
face to face, so many people feel
protected by the computer. Cyberbullying
is just stupid in my mind. It makes
me feel like the world is soon going
to resort to more online violence,
which will lead to more outside
of the home violence."
15-year-old female student, Maryland
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