Tonight was the premiere of the ABC Family original movie, Cyberbully. There were so many issues that the movie touched on. It showed how even though a victim of bullying may feel alone, there are others who feel the same way as they do. I was extremely impressed in how the story was written in a believable format that any teenager or parent of a teenager can relate to.
I don't want to give too much away about the movie. I want everyone to watch it for themselves, preferably with the people in their lives that are affected by this issue. But, I would like to say that the agony the mother went through was eerily similar to that of our own experiences trying to get help and justice for the problems my sister has faced. For very similar reasons, this very blog was started.
At about the midway point of the movie when it went to a commercial break, I asked the girls what their thoughts were so far. The only response that I got from the couch... "Wow!" Then after each subsequent commercial break we started going over the questions in the Cyberbully Conversation Starter.
- What online rules do you make for yourself? These are not the rules that your parents/families have in place. If you don’t make rules for yourself, what kind of rules would you like to start?
- Don't give out private information
- Don't use your full name
- Don't friend someone unless you personally know them.
- Don't respond to odd emails or other requests.
- Why do you think people tend to share very private details about their life online? What information should stay private
- You think they've earned your trust.
- You are trying to get people to think you're cool.
My own piece of advice that I can give to everyone out there... be smart about who you communicate with and what you communicate with them. If you don't know someone, don't friend them. Don't create fake accounts or let your friends create fake accounts. What starts off as something innocent can quickly spread and cause more harm then you could ever imagine. If you know of a fake profile, don't sit by and let it continue. With facebook, on the profiles wall, on the bottom left corner there is a Report/Block This Person option. Once you click on it, you can report that the profile does not represent a real person or that the person operating the page is not who they are claiming to be. Take my advice from before and clean up your facebook/myspace page.
If you haven't already seen the movie, I urge you to sit down and watch it with the ones you love.
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