Update on preventing bullying among teenagers

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and this year, we take note of this designation with the passage in March of a new law in Maryland, known as Grace’s Law, the rise of sites like Ask.fm in the US, where cyberbullying seems to get its feet on the ground, and the suicide of a Florida 12-year-old who was victimized by cyberbullying.

There are some who argue that kids will bully other kids no matter what the law says. It’s part of growing up and learning how to stand up for yourself and your friends, they say. And I’m not talking about that kind of “bullying,” which only serves under a loose definition of the word.

I’m talking about behavior that would get an adult fired from a job, at least one in the US, if he or she ever said such things to people in the workplace. Cyberbullying takes only a coward’s bravery, a 6-year-old’s courage, and that’s the kind of bullying behavior we need to stop.

I’m pleased that the Community Outreach Office of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California has produced an infographic, shared below, that specifies some general rules for what constitutes bullying. According to Rossier Online, bullying is

• Exerting power, whether to control or harm, over those who have difficulty defending themselves
• Acting or speaking with the intent to harm

Although the remainder of the infographic is fantastic, that first point puts too much emphasis on the person who is being bullied, in my opinion. The act of exerting power may have no effect on a person who is completely capable of defending herself, as was the case with the 15-year-old from Leeds, England, in my story about Ask.fm, but the act of making sexually suggestive comments to try to control her, even if she completely shrugged it off, is still cyberbullying.

The crime, now defined fairly clearly under Maryland law, has nothing to do with the object of the bullying. It is the intent of the criminal that defines the crime. That is, it’s either legal or illegal, under Maryland law, to engage in certain types of online behavior, to make posts of a certain nature, and to make certain statements or representations online. It doesn’t matter who the object of that behavior is.

Much thanks to Erika Phyall, community outreach officer at the Rossier School of Education for passing this along. If you are interested in more information about any of the facts cited on the infographic, please contact her office at (888) 628-1872.