Text bullying is big problem in some schools – in other words, sending an SMS of a threatening or nasty nature to someone in your peer group.
In fact, a recent UK survey says that 1 in 4 kids
had been subjected to bullying either via text or email and that many of them never reported it.
The problem is made worse simply because it’s in a written format – thus whatever natural inhibitions felt by the bully are removed from the equation. Watch what even a mild mannered kid writes in an SMS or in an Instant Messenger/chat forum and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Can you imagine Lord of the Flies if they’d had texting then? [Book idea for someone!]
The problem is compounded by parents’ and teachers’ failure to even be aware of the issue in many cases. If someone’s getting bullied in the solid world, there’s often evidence – bruises or missing dinner money, for instance. But mental cruelty can be just a damaging, if not worse.
So it’s great to see Vodafone in New Zealand trying to do something about it with the launch of a new initiative designed to combat Text Bullying (via Technodirt).
Unfortunately, they’re addressing the effect, not the cause. In other words, bullying doesn’t happen BECAUSE of text messaging, it’s merely the latest tool to be employed. It’s the same argument as saying that the net should be banned because of the paedophiles who use it. The unfortunate fact is that low life and scum will use any new technology, as much as the good guys. So let’s look at how we can stop bullying per se, not just text bullying.
Because even if you solve the text bullying, the bully will just move on to another means of tormenting their victim.
But if you really want an effective campaign to stop text bullying, here’s the answer. Forget counseling. Forget advice. All you need to do is to warn a bully to stop it or they get cut off from their network. Simple.
Though I appreciate there are some operational issues, they’re not insurmountable and after all, written evidence of the crime is readily available in every case.
As I’ve said before, talking away a phone from a kid these days is far worse than grounding them. You remove the essential ingredient of their social and sex lives. They become, in effect, a non-person, a persona non-mobile.
This is a very serious threat and one any kid will take notice of – believe me.
Of course, you still have the problem of bullying. But not via this medium.
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