Taking Action: Changing Attitudes About Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying PSA contest winners are announced.

By Sarah Horn

Words can be weapons! And cyberbullying over the Internet, cell phones, or other technology to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person is becoming a growing issue for many youth today. The effects are far reaching with such harmful consequences as teen suicide, school shootings, and physical bullying incidents. The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) along with Sony Creative Software and The Advertising Council, Inc., hosted a public service advertising (PSA) development contest, allowing teens and professionals to help educate teens and parents on how to delete cyberbullying.

A recent study commissioned by NCPC and conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc., explored this issue among middle school and high school students age 13 to 17 in the United States. The study revealed that 43 percent of teens have experienced some form of cyberbullying with incidents of cyberbullying higher among females than males, (51 percent to 37 percent), and that it was most prevalent among 15- and 16-year-olds.

Most teens claimed to know the person who cyberbullied them, often saying that it was someone from school. Teens believed people cyberbullied because they thought it was funny (81 percent), they didn’t like the person (64 percent), or the cyberbully didn’t see the action as a “big deal” (59 percent). In some cases they felt that the cyberbully didn’t perceive any tangible consequences (47 percent), or didn’t believe they’d get caught (45 percent).

Earlier this summer, the contest winners were announced at a press event cohosted by the U.S. Department of Justice and NCPC. Josh Bourgeois of Thibodaux, LA, was the winner of the independent producer competition category for his entry, Illuminate Cyberbullying, and Marvin Jimenez, technology literacy teacher at Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School in San Antonio, TX, was the winner of the academic (K–12) category for his submission, Words Really Do Hurt.

“Providing teens and young adults the opportunity to educate their peers about cyberbullying through the contest allows youth to take control of their online behavior and the messages they send and receive,” said NCPC President and CEO Alfonso E. Lenhardt. “NCPC congratulates the winners of the contest and looks forward to sharing these important messages with teens and parents nationwide.”

The winning entries received a prize package valued up to $25,000 that includes Sony software applications and hardware. The winning PSAs will also be distributed to broadcasters for the chance to be televised nationally. To view the winning entries visit www.sonycreativesoftware.com/cyber.

“The Internet is meant to be a place where our children can learn and interact with their friends,” said Joselle Shea, director of Children and Youth Programs at NCPC. “This contest helped make the Internet a safer place by providing parents and teens with effective tools to delete cyberbullying.”

For more information on NCPC’s campaign against cyberbullying, visit www.ncpc.org.