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Have you ever been the victim of a bully? Ever stand silent and let a bully pick on someone? Most people wouldn't consider bullying a crime -- but it could be creating criminals right before our very eyes. A study from a group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids concluded that nearly 60 percent of boys whom researchers classified as bullies in grades 6-9 were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. And get this, 40 percent of those same boys grew up to have three or more criminal convictions. In other words, today's bully could be tomorrow's criminal.

A survey commissioned by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) shows 37 percent of boys reported being victims of cyberbullying in 2006. In another finding, the study determined that although girls tend to cyberbully more often, boys cyberbully as well. The nonprofit organization, best known for its crime prevention icon, McGruff the Crime Dog, has released a public service announcement called "Chicken," which is specifically targeted to teen boys about preventing cyberbullying. According to NCPC, 43 percent of teens 13-17 years old say they had experienced cyberbullying in 2006 and nine in ten teens (92 percent) reported that they knew the person who was bullying them.\n

VERY helpful document!!!

A growing number of people are promoting Internet Safety Education in effort to keep youngsters safe from Internet sex offenders. But be cautious about some of the statistics that you may find from lectures, pamphlets, videos and web sites. Not all of the data accurately reflects what researchers have learned about cyberpredator crimes. For the real stats and myths vs. realities on child predators , download a copy of: Internet Safety For Teens: Getting it Right . This fact sheet (created by Dr. David Finkelhor at the Crimes Against Children Research Center) is packed with helpful clarifying information for your next presentation.

Cool summary of an article by Liz B. Davis -- Liz took the article and extracted the most valuable bits to her using google Docs. This methodology is fascinating, but even moreso the fact we may all begin doing this together with Diigo.

This research article has the facts about sexual predatory behavior.

"At some point, we can do away with cybercrime laws because most crimes will involve computers in some way, and all crime will be cybercrime."

9-minute video that would be good to show in a digital citizenship class. Identity theft is a serious crime. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years and thousands of dollars cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of a good name and credit record. In the meantime, victims of identity theft may lose job opportunities, be refused loans for education, housing, or cars, and even get arrested for crimes they didn't commit. Humiliation, anger, and frustration are among the feelings victims experience as they navigate the process of rescuing their identity.

Public schools have been equipped with video surveillance CCTV systems even before Columbine. The reasons include increased safety and security for students. Installing video surveillance cameras in schools is a costly project, and school districts must be sure that this is the right route to deter theft, property damage, and to prevent outsiders from entering the school's property. Even though most school districts that have implemented video surveillance systems have faced privacy concerns from parents, students and civil libertarian groups, school officials assert that cameras curb crime and are important sources of physical evidence when crimes do occur.

Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, states that the intent of the Legislature in enacting its provisions is to encourage school districts, county offices of education, law enforcement agencies, and agencies serving youth to develop and implement interagency strategies, in-service training programs, and activities that will, among other things, reduce school crime and violence, including bullying. Existing law establishes the School/Law Enforcement Partnership and charges it with undertaking several efforts intended to reduce school crime, as specified,including bullying.

This bill would specify that bullying, as used in these provisions,means one or more acts by a pupil or a group of pupils directed against another pupil that constitutes sexual harassment, hate violence, or severe or pervasive intentional harassment, threats, or intimidation that is disruptive, causes disorder, and invades the rights of others by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, and includes\nacts that are committed personally or by means of an electronic act, as defined.

Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the principal determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited to, hazing, as defined. This bill, in addition, would give school officials grounds to suspend a pupil or recommend a pupil for expulsion for bullying, including, but not limited to, bullying by electronic act.

2nd in the CyberCop Series, AIRDOGS was designed to show teenagers that online crimes have lifelong legal and social consequences for teens and their families. In the game, Luke is a teenager who shows great promise as a snowboarder. He needs money for gear and training, so he begins to counterfeit software in his basement. Players collect data and evidence to catch Luke's boss, who is the ringleader of the operation. The message of Air Dogs is clear: theft and extortion are crimes, whether you're 16 or 60. Available both as a home edition and a school edition. [Windows and Mac OSX versions available]

Blog from Danah Boyd. Last week, she and three other social scientists participated in an Internet Caucus panel in DC. David Finkelhor (Director of Crimes Against Children Research Center), Amanda Lenhart (PEW), and Michele Ybarra (President of Internet Solutions for Kids) all presented quantitative data. Most of the press coverage of Michele and David's work has been consistently inaccurate in representing the implications of their findings. So they've helped clarify some of the misinterpretations. The Internet Caucus put the video up online so you can view the actual conversation.

Personal note: David Finkelhor has a great document that helps with clarifying interpretations of his work. He coaches you on what to say. You can download INTERNET SAFETY EDUCATION FOR TEENS: GETTING IT RIGHT and use it for your next presentation!

It is becoming generally accepted that virtual property has real value and virtual crimes have spawned a whole new class of crime in real life.

Because cyberbullying is such a new phenomenon, school and law enforcement officials in the United States and other countries are still sorting out the legal technicalities. "Most of what is done online is protected as free speech," says Frannie Wellings, policy fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, DC.

On the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website consumers can learn how to avoid identity theft - and learn what to do if their identity is stolen and offers materials to use in your community.

This site (from the federal trade commission) is a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you deter, detect, and defend against identity theft.

A good demonstration of information that both teens (and adults) divulge online that could be used against them to commit home invasion crimes: just type in the words "headed to" in the Twitter Search Engine and watch how many people indicate that they are not home!

Right now, sexting is a crime and kids can be prosecuted for distribution of pornography. And if a person is convicted of a sex crime, they have to register as a sex offender which will haunt them for years (talk about your permanent record...).\n\nIn Vermont, there is a movement to decriminalize sexting. We agree that kids shouldn't be prosecuted for essentially doing something really stupid. But we do believe it's up to parents to educate their teens about this really risky practice. Kids should know that anything they send can be redistributed in an instant to anyone and could result in tremendous humiliation and pain.\n\n

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy, a private nonprofit group whose mission is to protect children, and CosmoGirl.com, surveyed nearly 1,300 teens about sex and technology. The result: 1 in 5 teens say they've sexted even though the majority know it could be a crime.

As high school students flock to social networking sites, campus police are scanning their Facebook and MySpace pages for tips to help break up fights, monitor gangs and thwart crime in what amounts to a new cyberbeat.

A defense attorney for the Missouri woman charged in a MySpace hoax that allegedly led to a 13-year-old girl's suicide argued Monday in court papers that prosecutors are bending a cyber crime statute to prosecute his client.

In an effort to protect children and teenagers online, Vanden Corporation, based in California and dedicated to youth safety is proud to introduce CyberBully Alert a ground-breaking software designed to help the thousands of young people who every day are the victim of the growing crime of cyberbullying. CyberBully Alert is a web-based solution that simplifies the notification and documentation of cyberbullying. It lets children instantly notify predetermined, caring adults of bullying or online harassment - in a communication style used by today's tech-savvy, young people.

The California Department of Education (CDE) and the Office of the Attorney General (AG) co-administer the School/Law Enforcement Partnership program. The Partnership has funded the Kern County Office of Education for a five-year period to administer the statewide School Safety and Violence Prevention Training Grant. The grant provides for safe schools planning, bullying prevention, and crisis response training. This training program does not currently include prevention of bullying that occurs via electronic communication devices. Need for the bill : A poll commissioned in 2006 by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, showed that one in three teens and one in six preteens have been victims of cyber bullying and that more than 2 million of those victims told no one about the attacks.