Texts, lies and lives bent out of shape - cyberbullies don't know their own ... - The Daily Telegraph

Be careful what you write on social media sites - you could get someone into a lot of trouble. Picture: ThinkStock Source: news.com.au

Three?out of four young cyber bullies ignorant of impact Fewer than half thought their bullying was harsh Almost 1-in-2 Year 6 to 12 students have been bullied

WHEN a bullied kid from a small town in Pennsylvania wrongly becomes the prime suspect in a US school shooting alert, social media reveals itself to be this generation's weapon of mass destruction.

But how could the smoking gun of a smear campaign do so much damage to a teenager already damaged by a history of bullying?

It all began with these words: "He'd be the type to bring a gun to school."

Like something out of Cruel Intentions, the message spread among classmates via texts, word of mouth, Twitter?and Facebook, taking on a life of its own.

But the boy in question, Austin Carner, 17, was unaware of the social media campaign brewing - he was off doing community service. That was until police showed up at his door, msnbc says.

"We received a call that there was a gun threat, a kid was going to bring a gun to school on Monday and shoot the place up," said local Police Chief Nicholas VanDamia. "The boy denied making any of those threats. We searched his room, we searched the house. There was no weapon nor was there anything available for him to use as a weapon. … There was never a real threat, it was all fictitious."

Carner had been bullied since moving to Girard from Michigan in 2006, with students calling him "retarded" due to his apaxia-related learning disability, "ugly" and "ginger" because of his red hair, WICU's Eva Mastromatteo reports on msnbc.com.

Watch the video report on msnbc.com.

"It was a rumour run wild … that's what social media does these days," Girard School District Superintendent James Tracy told msnbc.com. "Nothing was actually said. … It's like that old post office game, you know, where you tell a secret and by the 12th person it's totally different. Magnify that times literally … thousands of people on social media, it really gets messed up."

Three?out of four young cyber bullies don't believe they have had an impact on their victims, Australian research shows. Fewer than half thought their bullying was harsh.

And almost one in two Year 6 to 12 students have been either cyber bullied, bullied in person or have bullied others.

The research findings will be presented at a Griffith University youth violence and school bullying symposium later this month by Queensland University of Technology and leading cyber bullying expert Associate Professor Marilyn Campbell.

Students nationwide are getting ready for the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence next Friday and The Courier-Mail is campaigning again on the issue in an attempt to eradicate the scourge among children.

Research to be released following an anonymous survey of 3000 Queensland, Western and South Australia Year 6 to 12 students revealed about 30 per cent had been bullied in the traditional form and about 15 per cent cyber bullied.

About 12 per cent of the Year 6 to 12 students admitted to bullying others in the traditional form and a quarter of those bullies also indulged in cyber bullying.

Most concerning, Prof Campbell said, was the high rate of children who claimed what they were doing wasn't affecting their victims.

"About 8 per cent of these students reported cyber bullying others, and of these kids 75 per cent said that their cyber bullying didn't have an impact on anybody,'' Prof Campbell said. "Less than half of them thought their bullying was harsh.

"So the kids who are doing it are saying that the motive is more for fun and we didn't really mean to do any harm.

"Whether that is their true belief or whether that is them trying to get out of trouble, one doesn't know.

"They also seem to have more anxiety and depression, not as bad as their victims, but at least more than kids who don't bully.

"It says to me that these kids need help.

"Of course we have got to look after the victims but we also have to look after kids who cyber bully and that they need help with their mental health, with their anxiety and their depression as well as their social difficulties.''

She is calling for intervention to be targeted at Year 3 to 4 students.

About 55 per cent of students, who were surveyed across independent, Catholic and state schools, said they had never bullied anyone and had never been bullied.

To take a stand against bullying and tell your friends that you care sign up to facebook.com/saynotobullying or learn more at couriermail.com.au/saynotobullying.?

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