Cyberbullying: Crossing the Line

Stacey's Story: When Rumors Escalate Match the vocabulary word on the left with the correct definition on the right. harassing bombarding someone with messages over digital media, or repeated contact when it is least expected hate speech a verbal attack targeting someone because of their race, gender, religion or ability cyberbullying using technology, the Internet or cell phones to upset someone else on purpose, often over and over again target the person being cyberbullied Why did the girls start to harass and threaten Stacey online in the first place? When do you think the girls’ behavior “crossed the line”? Stacey says, “People talk really big, when there’s, like, miles between you.” What do you think she means by this statement? In what ways might the online context make the situation worse than if the bully had harassed Stacey offline? Stacey’s mom says that Stacey should call the school and report the incidents. Stacey responds that it would “just make it worse.” Do you think this is true? Why or why not? Alicia receives a text message from her friend Ronald. The message says, “I am having a party. You are not invited.” Choose the word that shows how Alicia might feel after she receives the message. hurt excited popular Match the term with the definition. deceiving using fake names, posing as someone else, or creating a fake profile about someone else flaming saying mean things, usually in ALL CAPS, and often in a public forum with the intention to humiliate stereotype a widespread belief about a group of people – often negative – that influences how members of that group are perceived and treated empathize to imagine the feelings that someone else is experiencing What to do? Theo is having fun playing Dragons and Knights online. Then he sees a message from another player. It says, “You’re ruining the game, stupid!” What should Theo do about the message? What shouldn’t he do? Sort the things he should and should not do below. Things Theo should do Ignore the player who sent the mean message Save the message in case theother player sends Theo another mean message Tell an adult about the message Things Theo should NOT do Pretend that he doesn’t feel hurt by the message Never play Dragons and Knightsonline again Write a message back that says, “You’re the stupid one! You should really stop playing all games.”