Coastal-Georgetown AAUW hosts forum on cyber-bullying
Approximately 90 people turned out Jan. 15 to hear Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, Dr. Julius Mullen and a panel of experts discuss cyber-bullying. The event was the seventh annual January Community Forum sponsored by the Coastal-Georgetown Branch of the American Association of University Women and cosponsored by AAUW Delaware, Children and Families First, Delaware Bullying Prevention Association, Girls Inc. of Delaware, Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, League of Women Voters of Sussex County and Wilmington University. The topic this year was Safe Communities, Safe Schools, Safe Families: Spotlight on Cyber-bullying.
Biden, citing recent statistics said that cyber-bullying affects approximately 1 million school-age children annually, and the use of digital technology and social media has increased both the anonymity of the bullies and the speed of their messages. He strongly encouraged teachers and parents to empower student leaders in academics, clubs and athletics to speak out against bullying as a way to help reduce it. While school anti-bullying legislation has been in effect in Delaware since 2008, the lack of school uniformity in reporting incidences has made it difficult to draft effective programs to combat it. As a result, all 19 school districts worked together to draft uniform regulations that are now available for public comment.
Keynote speaker Mullen, chief clinical officer from Children & Families First and adjunct professor at Wilmington University, presented feedback about cyber-bullying from area teens. In the voices of teens, he said that they believe cyber-bullying is much worse than regular bullying; it never stops, and few adults know how to combat it. Mullen encouraged parents to occasionally monitor their children’s emails or texts, to listen to them and to share experiences with them as strategies to address cyber-bullying. He urged policymakers to include students when drafting cyber-bullying legislation and prevention strategies.
A panel moderated by Dr. Rebecca Ghabour, chair of the psychology department at Wilmington University, included John Sadowski, Department of Education; Coleen O’Connor, president of the Delaware Bullying Prevention Association and adjunct faculty member at Wilmington University; and Chris Beagle, an active community volunteer with CAMP Rehoboth and with Cape Henlopen High School’s Positive Behavior Support Program. Panel members discussed the detrimental effects of cyber-bullying on children and listed available resources and strategies that parents, guardians and educators can use to help combat cyber-bullying.
They emphasized the importance of recognizing the signs when a child is confronting bullying, remaining engaged in young people’s lives so they will share their problems and setting appropriate guidelines for computer usage. They also stressed the important role of community mentors to children. Ghabour fielded questions from the audience and summarized the information provided during the forum. Anti-bullying resources for parents and educators include www.kidshealth.org, www.deletebullying.org and www.commonsensemedia.com.
