This week an 8th grade girl in Florida is missing her graduation. She's too embarrassed to go because she's afraid she'll be teased about the sexual comments that have been posted on her My Space page. The problem is, she isn't the one who has been posting these messages. This little girl is the most recent victim of cyberbullying
Shameeka Mucklin made the unfortunate mistake of giving her MySpace password to some friends. After a falling out, these ex-friends changed her e-mail information and password so that Shameeka no longer had access to her own MySpace page. They then began posting sexually provocative comments under all of Shameeka's pictures. Within hours, the 14 year-old began getting calls to her cell phone from adult men asking to meet her and wondering if "she'd do what she talked about on her MySpace page."
Shameeka's mother has contacted MySpace but has still not received a response. The local police department is conducting an on-going investigation into this cyber-bullying case but for Shameeka the damage is done. While MySpace says that it's sending out a list of safety guidelines, they're rather ineffective when dealing with devious teens.
I'd be interested in hearing if your child has been the victim of cyberbullying or even if they've been a cyberbully. How have you dealt with it?
The Safety Chronicles 