Cyberbullying Rampant For Lesbian And Gay Teens

LiveScience:

Cyberbullying is on the rise: Children and teens are being bullied through the Internet in chat rooms, on social networking websites, via email and even through mobile phones.

New research has found that approximately one out of every two lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youths are regular victims of this new form of bullying. It is thought that such cyberbullying causes psychological and emotional distress to victims â€" producing thoughts of suicide in some who are repeatedly victimized.

Read the whole story: LiveScience

Comments

[imperator prime]

04:03 PM on 03/29/2010

Kids who gather in cowardly, predatory little packs and prey upon their peers should be treated like the dangerous animals they are: shoot them from helicopters.

Anyway, don't just prosecute the bullies. Their behaviour didn't arise in a vaccuum- where were their parents? Teaching your offspring decency, civility, compassion, self-control, respect, and a sense of proper shame when they wrong others is your responsibility as a parent; abdication of that responsibility makes you complicit with their resultant indecency, incivility, lack of compassion, lack of self-control, disrespect and shameless wronging of others. Charge the bullies *and* the parents with the crimes, and slap the parents with neglect as well. If they're reunited after juvie and jail respectively, maybe the parents will finally take seriously their duties and discipline their spawn.

[ZenBastard]

01:36 PM on 03/12/2010

One of the unfortunate side effects of the anonymity of the internet is the rampant proliferation of bullies and bigots.

I believe that for some, it's a matter of finally being able to take on the role of the aggressor. These people have, in real life, been the ones on the receiving end of other people's bullying. Now, given the relative safety of anonymity on the internet, they have become what they most hate. A person that bullies & picks on people just because they can get away with it. They don't really have to fear any repercussions because there's not much chance of someone tracking them down. And because these people have been picked on for so long, for whatever reason, they now feel it's their right to turn around & do the same to someone else.

For others it's just a natural extension of their everyday, regular bigotry. These people are bigots & racists IRL and they're just continuing their discriminatory ways while on the internet. Most tend to ratchet up the racist rhetoric a few notches because, again, they really don't have much to fear from someone finding them. Some of them would likely talk trash to you in person, but there's also a section of this group that are closet bigots. They would never express their true, discriminatory selves to people in IRL for fear of retaliation. But given the safety of anonymity granted by the internet, they feel free to let out their inner bigot.

[steviebyGod]

12:09 PM on 03/11/2010

GLBT youth, should not retaliate, or stoop to the level of the bullies attacking them, whether it be on line, in their school, in their Church, or in their community. This goes on a lot in the adult world, and probably flows over to their children.

Live a good life, and continue to help others, and keep focused on your dreams. Never forget, WHAT ONE SOWS, SO SHALL THEY REAP! No one can escape this. It's a law that transcends religions, and is shared by the majority in the world. Imagine what these bullies are reaping...I pray daily that these people who discriminate, condemn, and crucify GLBD people because they were born different, realize why they are reaping what they presently are.

[shthar]

05:56 AM on 03/11/2010

you cant be cyberbullied if you just keep yourself, mostly, offline.

ditch the twitbook, facespace or whatever.

[Erzsebet Gilbert]

10:50 AM on 03/11/2010

I'm leery of the hyperconnectivity of all these social networking sights, but don't GBLTQ people of any age have the right to participate in activities of their heterosexually identified peers? One shouldn't have to be a Luddite in order to express one's own self.

[Bushdepression]

11:51 PM on 03/10/2010

Sit down and keep your mouth shut and don't blab your predilections to the world.
Then no one will bother you.

[Erzsebet Gilbert]

10:50 AM on 03/11/2010

Wait, so you want e-don't-ask-don't-tell? Not cool.

[ZenBastard]

12:13 PM on 03/12/2010

Sit down and keep your mouth shut and don't blab your bigoted drivel to the world.

[disintaGreatNation]

09:27 PM on 03/10/2010

Sign up bullies for offers on penis enhancement products.

[MJinCanada]

03:12 AM on 03/11/2010

Tempting, but it then comes back as sexual harassment. A lot of the nastier bullies are girls.

[RedDogBear]

07:01 PM on 03/10/2010

I don't get cyber bullying. Can't you just block users that are jerks?

[ObamAtomic]

07:47 PM on 03/10/2010

LOL

[MJinCanada]

09:03 PM on 03/10/2010

Not entirely. They just have to create a new MSM account, access someone else's account, get a new hotmail address or whatever. The kids who get bullied can delete their accounts and email addresses, get new phone numbers and so on, but some fool will always pass the new information on to one of the jerks. It's quite possible to use the internet to send anonymous messages to someone's cell phone.

[RedDogBear]

10:43 PM on 03/10/2010

Thanks. Now that you say that it all makes sense, it just didn't occur to me that people would waste so much time to f*k with someone else. Some times humans can be pretty disgusting.

[Magick1]

06:48 PM on 03/10/2010

Ah, technology, providing more tools for bullying. It used to be a giggle from a group as a person walked by, a note on a school locker. Now it is right in a person's face, making it harder and harder to escape.

[higherstrategy]

06:19 PM on 03/10/2010

and the only ones with the TIME and MONEY to do such things constantly are 'church goers'

gotta spread the 'love' by

HATE