Yik Yak causing bullying concerns at some schools

www.StandUpToBullying.net 802-362-5448 Info@StandUpToBullying.net

Messaging app Yik Yak causing bullying concerns at some schools Yik Yak was launched in December by 23-year-old entrepreneurs Brooks Buffington and Tyler Droll, two recent college graduates who designed the app to work like a “virtual bulletin board” for any 1.5-mile radius. (Courtesy: Yik Yak)  By Joshua Rhett Miller  FoxNews.com A new social media app that works like a localized, anonymous version of Twitter is rapidly gaining popularity on college campuses nationwide, but some educators fear it's being used by high school students to issue threats and to bully classmates. Yik Yak was launched in December by Atlanta-area entrepreneurs Brooks Buffington and Tyler Droll, two recent college graduates who designed the app using geo-fencing technology to create countless small communities. The app works like a “virtual bulletin board” for any 1.5-mile radius, Droll told FoxNews.com. “With Yik Yak, we allow anyone to have that power, that audience, and you’re not limited by who’s following who,” he said. “And this app isn’t a one-to-one messenger. Anyone within 1.5 miles can see it. We equate it to a virtual bulletin board.” Currently available for iOS and Android, Yik Yak allows users to vote on or reply to any so-called “Yak” posted anonymously using 200-character messages instead of Twitter’s 140-character limit. Although Yik Yak, which was designed with college campuses in my mind, restricts access on some 130,000 primary and secondary schools across the country, some parents and educators have raised concerns that younger kids are active on the service. Most recently, in Connecticut, parents received a message from Fairfield Public Schools warning them that Yik Yak was “creating opportunities for mean-spirited, bullying behavior” at some of its schools. "The issues range from bullying behavior, racial harassment, sexual harassment, to bomb threats and threats of physical violence."- Fairfield Public Schools “Upon researching this we have learned that Yik Yak has been causing many issues at middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the country,” the message read. “The issues range from bullying behavior, racial harassment, sexual harassment, to bomb threats and threats of physical violence.” As a result, district officials asked Yik Yak to utilize its GPS technology to block access to the app within all of its campuses. A company spokeswoman confirmed to FoxNews.com that Yik Yak has been blocked to three middle schools and two high schools within the district. “We’re proactively trying to keep high schoolers off the app,” Droll said. “It’s being used very well at colleges. We think psychologically high schoolers aren’t ready to use our app.” In California, a 17-year-old high school student was charged with three felony counts of making a terrorist threat earlier this month after he allegedly posted on Yik Yak that a shooting would occur at two local high schools. The student thought the threat would be “funny” and untraceable, according to a news release from the Reedley Police Department. Elsewhere, in Mobile, Ala., a 16-year-old and 14-year-old from the area were reportedly charged with making terroristic threats after allegedly using Yik Yak to announce forthcoming shootings at local high schools. But Buffington said those “growing pains” are not unique to Yik Yak, and he recalled a story of the app being used by students at Vanderbilt University to raise money for a fellow classmate diagnosed with cancer. Other users might not have personally known the student, but the immediate forum and increased awareness created by the app worked wonders, he said. “It allowed him to easily connect with his whole campus,” Buffington said. “Within one day, more than 1,100 people showed up to see if they were a blood match. Awesome things like that happen all the time with our app on college campuses.” Company officials announced on Monday that it had secured $1.5 million in funding, aimed at enhancing current features and expanding its user base. Both Kroll and Buffington declined to indicate how many people are currently using Yik Yak, but some estimates are as high as 250,000. They did say, however, that it’s been used on more than 100 college campuses, primarily in the South. Buffington said he expects the app, which was originally launched a meager side project, to eventually rival social media behemoths like Facebook and Twitter because users are not anchored to any one particular profile, photo or circle of users. “The trend we saw in all other forms of social media was, you have a profile, something that weighs you down,” he said. ‘You’re expected to act a certain way. Another big thing is they’re closed networks that lack diversity and differentiating content.” Parry Aftab, an attorney specializing in Internet privacy and security law, told FoxNews.com that Yik Yak is quickly becoming “very popular” in places like Chicago, California and large swaths of the South. She said the anonymity apps like Yik Yak provides does indeed tend to make its users more daring. “If people know what they’re doing is being monitored, they tend to think twice,” Aftab told FoxNews.com. “But I have no problem with schools blocking access to anything that isn’t related to education during school hours – period. Parents can deal with it when they get home.”

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How to respond if you're in a cyber-fight

Email or IM the following:

"I really don't want to talk about this online."
"I think it's easier to talk about this over the phone or in person."
"Can I call you right now? (or, "Can we talk tomorrow at school at [suggested time]?").
If the other person continues the fight, log off.
What to do if you are being cyber-bullied
People who cyber bully do so because it makes them feel powerful. Anything you can do to give the impression that you are not bothered will make it less satisfying for the cyber-bully. For example:
Turn off your computer or cell phone -- Being ignored gets boring for the bully.

Block mean messages -- 71% of teens think that blocking abusive messages is the most effeective way to prevent cyber-bullying. ISPs, email programs and social network programs have information about blocking messages.

Don't respond or cyber-bully back -- You don't have to be a doormat, but don't be provoked into retaliating because that is exactly what the bully wants. Don't play their game!

Talk to an adult you trust -- Let them know what you need them to do (and not do) to put a stop to the bullying. It's also a good idea to try and tell the people that you live with. Being bullied can cause changes in your behavior that will worry them. If they know what's going on, they'll be more understanding.

Print it out or save it -- If you're receiving bullying messages of any kind, print them out or save them. You, and the adults in your life, may want the evidence if you ever decide to take action against a cyber-bully.

Address your feelings -- Being bullied can feel really bad. Talk to a friend or trusted adult, write out your feelings in a journal, express your feelings through art, music or creative writing.

Participate in activities that you are good at and make you feel good -- Being bullied is upsetting. Being involved in activities you enjoy can help cancel out the way the cyber-bully makes you feel.

Post how you respond to a cyber-fight.

Remember to go to www.BalanceEducationalSevices.com for more bullying prevention ideas.

What Students Need to Know About Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying is intentional wrongdoing and the cyber bully can be held responsible by a court of law under the following circumstances:
-Publishing a false statement about another which is damaging to their reputation
-Publicly disclosing a private fact about another
-Breaking into someone's account
-Purposely causing someone emotional distress

The following actions may be considered criminal, regardless if it happens online or directly:
-Making threats of violence to people or their property
-Trying to force someone to do something he or she doesn't want to do
-Sending obscene or harassing text messages, emails, pictures, telephone calls, etc.
-Harassment or stalking
-Creating or sending sexually explicit images of teens (considered child pornography even if sent by another child)
-Taking a photo of someone in place where privacy is expected (locker room, bathroom, etc.)

(c) 2009 http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=4enbmwcab.0.0.jt48c7bab.0&ts=S0385&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.balanceeducationalservices.com%2F&id=preview
Permission is granted to use this article with full credit.

For more information and other bully prevention strategies, contact Balance Educational Services at 1-802-362-5448 info@BalanceEducationalServices.com

Teen Commits Suicide Due to Bullying: Parents Sue School for Son's Death

Eric Mohat, 17, was harassed so mercilessly in high school that when one bully said publicly in class, "Why don't you go home and shoot yourself, no one will miss you," he did.
In a federal lawsuit, the parents of Eric Mohat allege that their son committed suicide after being tormented by bullies at his Mentor, Ohio, High School. They say the school knew about the bullying and failed to protect their son.

Now his parents, William and Janis Mohat of Mentor, Ohio, have filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying that their son endured name-calling, teasing, constant pushing and shoving and hitting in front of school officials who should have protected him.
The lawsuit -- filed March 27, alleges that the quiet but likable boy, who was involved in theater and music, was called "gay," "fag," "queer" and "homo" and often in front of his teachers. Most of the harassment took place in math class and the teacher -- an athletic coach -- was accused of failing to protect the boy.
"When you lose a child like this it destroys you in ways you can't even describe," Eric Mohat's father told ABCNews.com.
The parents aren't seeking any compensation; rather, they are asking that Mentor High School recognize their son's death as a "bullicide" and put in place what they believe is a badly needed anti-bullying program.

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES ABC News

Movie: An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong -- My thoughts

I recently viewed the movie An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. It’s about a fourth grader and her friends who deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class. I recommend it for kids between 2nd and 5th grade. Older kids might enjoy it, too, and I’m sure can relate to some of the bullying issues and how easily some adults just ‘miss’ the aggressive behaviors that is right in front of their face. Children, parents and educators can all learn good bully prevention strategies which is the strong point of this movie.

The bullying was realistic and showed examples of physical, verbal, social and cyber bullying. Some of the bullying was more sophisticated than average 4th graders might express, but then again, some bullies are way above average. Chrissa, the main victim, and other victims were typical 4th grade girls who, realistically, didn’t know how to deal with the situation. The bullying continued until situations had risen to a level whereby parents and teachers had to be involved. Often, the kids themselves made some very good choices, too, to stop the bullying.

The adults didn’t handle the situations very well at first. For instance, trying to find out who the main culprit was in a given situation, the principal and classroom teacher asked the students for information while all the students - victims, aggressors, and bystanders - were all together. Of course, no one was willing to risk speaking up. Separate discussions would be much more effective. Also, some of the consequences imparted on the aggressors had nothing to do with the bullying. I would have liked to see consequences that would teach pro-social behaviors and empathy instead of suspension and ‘towel clean-up’ that had nothing to do with the offense. Changing behavior and/or teaching replacement skills is a lot more effective in stopping a bully from bullying again. Of course, if the adults had taught all the students how to react to bullying before bullying began, and/or had ‘nipped’ the bullying in the bud before it got severe, this would have been a very short movie.

The movie accurately expressed how confusing a bullying situation can be for any young child. Without information and strategies to deal with bullying, the children in this movie used trial and error solutions such as hiding in toilet stalls, staying home from school, and avoiding after school activities. They were also hesitant to talk to adults. Fortunately, it addressed these realistic responses with ultimately having the children learn that talking to an adult is not tattling, but asking for help. Ultimately, the adults were very helpful. To move the story along, the writer had them be somewhat clueless and naïve at first, but they were always supportive and came through in the end to help the victims.

The movie is enjoyable to watch and many youngsters will be able to relate to the storyline. I recommend the movie as an opportunity to discuss bullying with children and strategies they can implement if they are bullied or witness bullying. In real life, we want kids and adults to know how to stop bullying before it becomes an abusive situation that last for weeks. At the risk of being self-serving, using the lessons and activities in our book How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression would help children learn the skills the characters in the movie would have appreciated, such as how to stand up to a bully, how to stop a peer from bullying another, and how to determine when talking to an adult is telling and not tattling.

Check out the table of contents of our book to get idea of what skills kids need to develop to stop bullying. Or, for sample lessons go to http://balanceeducationalservices.com/resources.html

If you saw the movie, share your thoughts.

Steve

Radio Interview Posted

Happy New Year everyone!

We have a new 20 minute radio interview posted to our website. It’s a clear, concise and interesting (even if I say so myself) interview by veteran radio man Rich Ryder of WBTN in Vermont, USA. On our "media page" click on the link under "Hear Mike and Steve" that reads "Radio Interview - WBTN."

Feel free to share the interview with any friends, or friends who have children or students, who are having issues with bullying.

We wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009

Steve

YouTube Joins Forces to Stop Cyber Bullying

In a much welcomed move, YouTube has announced that it will no longer host video of school fights. The video uploading giant has pulled school fight video and is asking site users to help police the site. What brings this great change about? Thank the Vallejo City Unified School District of Vallejo, California.

Look back at my last blog, School Approves Cyber Bullying Ban, and you'll see that on Wednesday, the Vallejo City USD Board of Directors unanimously passed a new policy that specifically bans the recording of school fights. As a follow up, Vallejo school officials sent a letter to YouTube asking that they remove all school fight videos. Happily, YouTube has agreed.

Kudos to the Vallejo City USD and YouTube.

Karen

School Approves Cyber Bullying Ban

Yesterday, the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Directors, in Vallejo, California, voted unanimously to approve a new policy designed to stop students from recording fights with their camera cell phones and then posting them on-line at sites such as YouTube. The new policy also aims to prevent alternate forms of cell phone related cyber bullying, such as abusive text messages.

Case law already addresses this issue, so is this new policy necessary? I think it is.

Case law involving the off campus/on campus nexus states that schools must address any incident which creates a hostile environment or impacts learning, whether or not the incident occurs on or off the school campus. This is all fine and good, but the Vallejo City USD policy specifically lays out rules regarding cell phone use on campus. In doing so, it spells out what is and is not acceptable, along with the consequences. In other words, students and parents now have a clear understanding of what the expectation is, and staff have a clear understanding of what their response should be. To me, clearly defined expectations and consequences are much more effective in changing school climate than case law, which is ususally unknown to students and parents.

What do you think? How does your school address this growing problem?

Karen

Teaching Your Kids How to Respond to a Bully

Mike and I present bully prevention workshops for parents throughout the country. We provide best practices that are effective, safe and empowering. Our experience has been that when it comes to their kids getting bullied, most parents understand that a physical response or verbal comeback does more harm than good.

Of course, they want to know what to suggest to their child to stop the bullying while maintaining safety and self-esteem. Many parents are familiar with suggestions such as ignore verbal taunts, walk away when someone is bothering you and telling the bully, “Stop.” They ask if these are valid strategies.

The answer is yes, they are effective strategies -- when done correctly. The key to success is the details and practice. We teach the detail of these strategies through role-playing (very effective and a lot of fun for Mike as he gets to bully me).

When I role-play ignoring or walking away from Mike the Bully, I do it without showing emotion or gesturing in any manner that will reinforce him. My style expresses confidence and a refusal to get caught in his trap. I show the audience how to “be boring” so the bully just gives up. Simply put, I’m no fun to bully.

And when I choose to tell the bully to “Stop” or “Cut it out,” I keep a distance of 1.5 - 2 arm lengths while making eye contact and using strong body language and tone of voice. Strong body language means my head is up, my back straight and my hands are by my sides or down in front. I limit any extra movement in my body, head and eyes. My tone of voice is controlled, yet neutral; it expresses seriousness and confidence.

Although the suggestions aren’t necessarily new to our audience, our “show” demonstrates the details of these strategies and parents literally see the importance of role-playing bullying scenarios with their child in a safe environment. Role-playing is vital for children to be confident that when they are in an actual bullying situation, and there is real emotion involved, they can respond effectively to stop the bullying.

Ultimately, audience members say, “This is great stuff! I’ve been writing notes on your handouts, but do you have those details in a book?” In the past, we’d respond, “We’re working on it.” As most of our readers know, our book, How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression, is now available. Although written for educators, each lesson and activity can be taught, discussed and practiced at home between parent and child(ren). Chapter 5, Teaching Assertiveness and Chapter 6, Responding to a Bully, detail these strategies in an easy to read manner with fun activities to practice.

Thanks for asking and as always, we look forward to your feedback.

Steve
For more information on how to prevent bullying, visit the bullying experts at http://www.balanceeducationalservices.com/index.html.

Schools, Cell Phones and Cyber-Bullying

Many schools struggle with policy regarding the use of cell phones by students. Concerns range from using it during teaching time, cheating on tests and cyber-bullying. Some students and parents claim it is important for them to have cell phones to contact parents. The bottom line is the almost everyone has a cell phone these days. Presently, many schools are reconsidering their ‘no cell phones’ policy. (At least) one high school in VT said they have bigger issues to deal with than to fight a losing battle in regard to banning cell phones. The school administration has decided that students will be allowed to have them, but it will be confiscated if used at inappropriate times. Click here to read the article entitled “MAU to allow cell phones; admits enforcement failure.”

This decision was hotly debated at a school board meeting. Overall, board members would prefer no cell phones in school, but accept that the new policy was realistic and made sense. Of course, there was some dissent. One board member said “I hope (parents) would say, 'Don't bring your God damn cell phones to school,'" He also added that he does not own a cell phone and never will.

In my opinion this person is out of touch with millions of teens, tweens and adults. Cell phones are a part of the culture and some variation of them will continue for the foreseeable future. Banning cell phones just won’t work, as this school has indicated. Students will find a way to have and use them during the school day. And if they use it ‘under the radar,” there is an even greater chance they will use it inappropriately.

I think schools need to deal with reality. Teaching students how and when to use their phones respectfully is a skill they will need throughout their lives, especially in the workplace. School staff have an opportunity they need to take advantage of. With student input, staff can and should create logical cell phone usage rules and consequences that can be respected by all. Like it or not, schools have to deal with the issue and need to work with the culture. It’s a great opportunity to teach our young people cultural rules and respect.

Steve
For more strategies to teach proper use of cell phones in school, contact me at Steve@BalanceEducationalServices.com