Teenagers and the Internet
By NICK NARIGON
Bullying isn''t what it used to be.
That was the message Mike Ferjack, senior special investigator with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, gave to parents and teachers Wednesday, May 13, in the Iowa Valley High School auditorium.
Ferjack, a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, is an expert on cyber-bullying and “sexting.” Children today are using the Internet, cell phones and other electronic devices to harass, embarrass and threaten other kids.
Cyber-bullying is when someone posts e-mails or comments online that are intended to harm someone and is done repeatedly, Ferjack said.
“Bullying does not stop when a kid comes in from recess,” he said to a crowd of about 75. “Bullies can now harass their victims virtually 24/7, and your child can no longer escape. They can be pursued relentlessly and sometimes with tragic results.”
There have been cases such as the story of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old from Missouri. Megan was harassed through her MySpace account by the mother of a classmate. Because the harassment was so intense, Megan committed suicide in 2006, Ferjack said. Similar cases have occurred throughout the country.
According to a study by the University of New Hampshire, Ferjack said 6 percent of the student population have experienced cyber-bullying and 2 percent have experienced distressing bullying. He said those numbers are already outdated and the figures are much larger than reported.
The most common form of cyber-bullying used to be through chat rooms, but Ferjack said teenagers use social networking Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Xanga more often for online communication.
Online blogs have also become a vehicle for cyber-bullying, he said.
“Blogs are essentially online diaries,” Ferjack said. “Sometimes the things said in blogs are things that couldn’t be said face to face.”
Of the people caught cyber-bullying, 60 percent of the offenders did it because it was “only a joke,” he said. Part of the problem about bullying online is the consequences of their actions are not real to the perpetrator, Ferjack said.
Another part of the problem is that 41.5 percent of the victims of cyber-bullies do not tell anyone, he said.
SAFETY TIPS
There are several things a parent can do to prevent a child from being cyber-bullied or to help a child who is the victim of a cyber-bully.
Ferjack said a parent needs to monitor their child’s online accounts. He said the home computer should be in a high traffic area of the house. A child should not be able to access the Internet in their bedroom, he said.
“Some parents say, ëI don’t want to spy on my kid,’ Yes, you do,” Ferjack said. “There is a law called that gives someone the right and expectation of privacy. That does not exist in your house.”
If a child is being cyber-bullied, it is paramount for the parent to identify the source of bullying. No one is anonymous online, Ferjack said. The parents should go to teachers, law enforcement officials or an attorney if their child is being bullied online, he said.
If a child is a victim, the parent needs to stop contact on the computer, stop the child’s cell phone service and change access codes, he said. The parent also needs to save inappropriate e-mails to preserve the evidence, he said.
“The parent needs to talk about it with the children and deal with it in a positive, healthy manner,” Ferjack said. “A parent’s number one job is to provide safety for their child.”
It is very important for children to keep their parents informed about what is happening online.
SEXTING
“Sexting” is a new phenomenon that is sweeping the nation, Ferjack said, and is “alive and well in Iowa.”
Sexting is when someone transmits a sexually explicit photograph or message via cell phone.
According to research, 22 percent of all teenagers in America have participated in some form of sexting, Ferjack said, including 11 percent of girls between the ages of 13 and 16.
In addition, he said 71 percent of teenage girls and 67 percent of teenage boys have sent or posted sexually suggestive content to their boyfriend or girlfriend.
Even more alarming, Ferjack said, is that 15 percent of teenagers have sent sexually suggestive content to someone they only know online.
“Why are they doing this? It goes back to the same old excuse, ëIt’s just a joke. It’s no big deal,’” Ferjack said. “But teenagers do not understand the legal consequences of what they are doing.”
Sending a nude picture of a minor, or storing a picture of a nude minor, is a felony offense, he said. Whether it is a minor sending a nude photo to another minor, it is still dissemination of lewd material and it is a crime, he said.
Where kids run into trouble is that while dating someone, they send a nude picture via cell phone. Then they break up, and the ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend send the photo to friends or even post the photo online.
This, Ferjack said, is a felony offense.
He cited such a case that took place in Florida. An 18-year-old boy sent nude photos of his ex-girlfriend, who was a minor, to 70 people. The boy was caught and found guilty of distributing child pornography. He was sentenced to jail and has to register as a sex offender until he is 43 years old.
“One action can result in multiple felonies in less than a minute,” Ferjack said. “Actions of sexting may stay with your for the rest of your life.”
He continued, “Never assume anything you post online will stay private. There is no changing your mind in cyberspace. It never truly goes away. If it feels wrong. If it sounds wrong. Don’t do it.”
Once again, the best way to prevent sexting is for parents to be involved in the situations their children put themselves into, Ferjack said.
Law enforcement agencies are making strides in finding offenders online, he said, but most importantly, parents, teachers and community members need to work together to inform the public as well as children.
“I am most impressed with what your community and school have done to fight this problem,” Ferjack said. “Marengo can certainly be a model to other communities.”
UPDATED May 20, 2009 9:15 AM