These actions contributed to Ryan’s feelings of inadequacy, and depression. As he did not report the cyberbullying to his parents, school staff, or other trusted adult there was not a positive resolution to the situation. However, Ryan’s father is now able to make a positive impact on students, parents, and school staff by sharing his website which includes resources for preventing cyberbullying. Additionally, he visits schools to share Ryan’s experiences and advises students, parents, and school staff on steps to take when cyberbullying begins to rear its ugly head. Additionally, Ryan’s case contributed to the 2004 Vermont Act 117; 16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(32); An Act was enabled in memory of Ryan Patrick Halligan who was severely bullied electronically. The penalty is to have schools develop a plan to notify parents of bullying along with the victim and expulsion may be a consequence.

Although the offenders may not have received discipline in school for their behavior, they likely endured some psychological repercussions.  If similar bullying occurs in Vermont schools now, they have an obligation to share that with parents and deliver a consequence.

In this talk at George Mason University, Sameer Hinduja, the author of Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard, states that students in schools who perceive a more negative school climate, report more cases of cyberbullying. He goes on to discuss positive social norming, in which school staff, can create a ripple effect of positive school climate, rather than a negative climate. It is the moral obligation of school leaders to be observant and alert to potential bullying and cyberbullying and consciously take steps to build positive school climate so that students are able to put their efforts and energy into building each other up rather than creating painful and dangerous scenarios.     

For our discussion posts for this week, we viewed Monica Lewinsky’s TED Talk, The Price of Shame. 

I remember very vividly when this scandal with Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton occurred. It seemed like the story was everywhere! On late night TV shows, the news, tabloids and more. Back then it seemed overwhelming and shocking, and Monica Lewinsky was the one every person blamed for the scandal.

The story that Monica described was painful, as was the story of Tyler Clementi that she shared, who took his life after experiencing online bullying. Her story could have been exponentially more painful if it had occurred now, when social media is in constant use by millions of people. Can you imagine the level of pain she would have had to endure while reading comments of thoughtless people hiding behind a computer or smart phone screen?

Monica very eloquently reminded the audience that we are making progress and heading in the right direction, and that we should reinforce empathy and compassion to ease the shame of mistakes people make. However, positive reinforcement is not quite enough. In Texas we have David’s Law, which is named after a boy that took his own life after he was relentlessly bullied online.

We also engaged in reading some very meaningful content. What I found helpful and engage was the book called Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying by Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin.  I have not read the entire book yet, but I especially enjoy the scenarios outlined in the book. Of course accessing one resource can lead to YouTube rabbit hole, which is what happened to me. So I also came across multiple videos featuring the authors. I especially enjoyed these two featuring Sameer Hinduja presenting at George Mason University and at the World Anti-Bullying Forum. In both videos he shares his definition of cyberbullying as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices” and shares current (for the time) statistics about cyberbullying, as will as contributing factors to and the effects of cyberbullying.

One of the most useful sites I encountered was https://cyberbullying.org/ which provides information and resources to define and prevent cyberbullying. Additionally, it compares and details the laws regarding cyberbullying in each state of America.