Group items tagged

People used to say a child's suicide ripples through a community. These days, it rides an electronic wave. Teenagers relay the news with cell phone calls, text messaging and Internet social networks, complicating the efforts of teachers, counselors and parents trying to manage grief after a young person's death. To our readers This series stems from our continuing examination of what led 19-year-old Robert Hawkins to become a mass killer last December at Omaha's Von Maur store. Today's stories describe how Internet postings, cell phones and text messages allow teens to spread their angst rapidly under the radar of adult oversight. Three-part series The World-Herald investigation into Robert Hawkins' murder spree and suicide last December leads to the discovery of a teen suicide cluster in Sarpy County. Sunday: Connections between suicidal teens cross community and school district lines. Today: Technology spreads teenage grief and angst quickly, with no parental oversight. Tuesday: A widely used but controversial suicide screening program is urged for use in Nebraska schools. Cyberspace is fertile ground for suicide contagion. It provides a forum for prolonged and excessive grieving in a highly charged, emotional atmosphere - precisely the kind of atmosphere psychologists warn to avoid after a death. It is also unmonitored by all but the most vigilant parents.

As teens across the country head back to school this year, far too many of them are facing the entrance doors to their schools with feelings of fear, trepidation and dread. For an increasing number of students across the nation, schooldays are filled with the never-ending cycle of taunting and abuse from their bullies. But this year, in an unprecedented display of solidarity, thousands of strangers who have been through the same harrowing experiences, are sharing their private tales of torment with these teens for the first time ever because of the story of Olivia Gardner.

A schoolboy who announced his imminent suicide on Facebook was saved when a friend across the Atlantic in America read his threat and raised the alarm. The 16-year-old, from Oxford, sent a late-night message on the social networking website to a girl sitting 3,400 miles away at her computer in Maryland.

Following the recent death of a NY teen who committed suicide after being tormented by classmates, Dana Boyd reflects on the language of teens, who will frequently dismiss bullying as "stupid drama" in order to minimize its impact and save face because it distances both the perpetrators and the victims from pain. She recommends a focus on more positive concepts like "healthy relationships" and "digital citizenship" rather than the negative framing of bullying.

Flames of Moral Panic: You may have noticed that the media has fully embraced "sexting" [a term invented by the media] as the latest horror story about teens and technology. First it was about how the internet is teeming with predators a la "To Catch A Predator," with the most dramatic stories focusing on girls who met these predators in real life [read the real deal here: Online "Predators" And Their Victims]. Next it was about cyberbullying, highlighting the most extreme cases that ended in young people having to switch schools or even more tragically committing suicide. The latest is "sexting," where teens are naively sending and receiving sexually explicit photos or video of themselves to friends via cell phone, again, with the most dramatic cases highlighted.

In response to the recent rash of teen suicides related to cyberbullying, Perez Hilton appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week to say that he will be ending his crusade to bully people online. Hilton made a name for himself as a celebrity blogger, making nasty comments about celebrities and attempting to "out" gay and lesbian stars. See his YouTube video for the announcement. http://bit.ly/perezhilton_bullying The message is a bit rambling but he's definitely someone who influences teen behavior.

Speaking as a mom of a teenager and an individual, Madonna made a guest appearance via satellite on the Ellen show today to speak out about bullying and teen suicides. Madonna told Ellen that she could "totally relate to the idea of feeling alienated and isolated" and to being bullied as a kid. After brief banter between host and guest, the discussion starts at 1:40 min into the video.

The cyberbullying suicide story of Ryan Halligan, as told to Middle Schoolers at a school assembly. The raw pain in this video will move you to tears and it's obvious that John Halligan's story of his son makes an impact on his youth audiences as well. For more information on how to get copies of the video, go to Safe Passage Media . I like the fact that he encourages "bystanders" to get involved.

School bullying is nothing new. But since Prince's suicide, it has taken on a much darker significance, one that prosecutors are taking seriously. On Monday, criminal charges were brought against the nine students who allegedly led the harassment. And parents and school administrators in South Hadley are under intense scrutiny as well. They face tough questions about what happened to Prince and whether they could have done more to prevent her death.

Lori Drew, the "cyberbully" mom who has been accused of indirectly causing the suicide of a MySpace teen member may have acted heinously, but not illegally, according to a group of Internet legal advocacy groups who filed a legal brief yesterday in the U.S. District Court in California.

Teen death is only the second known case of a suicide linked to bullying after "sexting" - the practice of transmitting sexual messages or images electronically. In March, 18-year-old Jesse Logan killed herself in the face of a barrage of taunts when an ex-boyfriend forwarded explicit photos of her following their split.

Even after the Long Island girl killed herself, the harassing Internet messages kept on coming, posted on a page meant to stand as a tribute.

The image was blurred and the voice distorted, but the words spoken by a young Ohio woman are haunting. She had sent nude pictures of herself to a boyfriend. When they broke up, he sent them to other high school girls. The girls were harassing her, calling her a slut and a whore. She was miserable and depressed, afraid even to go to school.

he bullying seemed inescapable. His family and friends say it followed Iain Steele from junior high to high school -- from hallways, where one tormentor shoved him into lockers, to cyberspace, where another posted a video on Facebook making fun of his taste for heavy metal music.