Cyberbullying

Q: James is frustrated and saddened by the comments his high school peers are making about his sexuality. Furthermore, it appears a group of male students are creating fake e-mail accounts at Yahoo.com and are sending love notes to other male students as if they came from James - who is mortified at the thought of what is happening.

A: Obviously it is unacceptable for this to happen. First I would reassure James that he did the right thing by coming to an adult, and then I would set up a team of collaborators to deal with the issue. Parents would be notified and asked to sit in on any discussions with school attorneys and councilors. Once the perpetrators are identified I would ask each of them as well as their parents to meet with myself, school administrators and potentially attorneys to discuss the ramifications of such actions. Obviously I would be informing them that if this sort of behavior is continued that there could be legal and criminal ramifications for the young teenagers which could negatively affect them for the rest of their lives. We would take steps with the parents to make sure the behavior is stopped and that James is no longer being harassed, as a teacher I would follow up with James, weekly if necessary, to ensure the bullying has stopped. If it has not I then (along with school administrators) inform the authorities and partner with them to handle the situation from there. Unfortunately, teens have killed themselves due to cyberbullying in the past and therefore it shows just how seriously teachers and schools must take this threat. Kids need to know it’s no joking matter and if they keep it up there will be legal ramifications.