Geoff Greenwood, Communications Director
515-281-6699, geoff.greenwood@iowa.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 12, 2010

As Kids Go Back to School, Parents Need to Look Beyond the Schoolyard for Bullies

Attorney General Addresses Growing Cyberbullying Threat

(MASON CITY, Iowa)  Attorney General Tom Miller today urged Iowa parents who are getting their children ready for school to also prepare their kids for the growing threat of cyberbullying.

A cyberbully uses technology to harass, embarrass, intimidate, or stalk someone else.  The methods can include e-mails, social networking sites, instant messages, blogs, cell phones, and other electronic communications.

This week, the message board host website Topix.com agreed to change its abusive post policies after Miller and attorneys general in several dozen states expressed concerns about those policies and particularly how abusive posts can impact children.  In 2008, Facebook and MySpace both agreed to change their inappropriate content policies to better protect children after Miller and other attorneys general requested the changes.

“As young kids and teenagers turn more and more to their cell phones and computers to communicate, it is changing the way even a few typed words or text messages can impact and harm our kids,” Miller said.  Miller notes that early this year 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of South Hadley, Massachusetts took her own life in what is believed to be the result of cyberbullying.

“For previous generations, schoolyard bullies were the threat,” Miller said.  “Today, cyberbullies may not be a physical threat but they can have devastating consequences on young people.  And sometimes our children may feel they have no safe refuge at school or even at home.”

In 2007, the Iowa legislature passed a law requiring school districts to adopt anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies to include bullying “in school, on school property, and at any school function, or school-sponsored activity regardless of its location.”  Those polices must include electronic communications.

Miller reminds parents that they should monitor where their children are spending time on the Internet and who they’re communicating with on their cell phones.  They should reinforce to their kids that they should turn to an adult for help if they come across a cyberbully or a predator.  “Communication between parents and their children is key,” Miller said.

Miller also encourages schools to spend time with students talking about cyberbullying, its policies and where students can turn to for help.

“There are many resources for parents and educators to seek help,” Miller said.  “It is crucial to address a cyberbullying threat as quickly as possible.”

Cyberbullying Resources:

The Parent’s Guide to Cyberbullies (Excellent resource for parents)
            http://secureonline.iowa.gov/docs/cyberbullies.pdf

Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use (Excellent resource for educators)
            http://www.cyberbully.org

Cyberbullying Research Center (Excellent overall resource)
            http://cyberbullying.us/index.php

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