Zeb White
Asst. Business Manager

Students have been bullying each other for generations. Our generation, however, has been able to utilize technology to expand the reach of bullying and extent of its harm. This phenomenon is known as cyberbullying, which is defined by the Cyberbullying Research Center as willful and repeated harm inflicted through use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.

A National Crime Prevention Council study released earlier this year found that cyberbullying is at an all-time high, with more than 43% of teenagers reporting being victims of bullying by phone or Internet. Even Coppell has been affected. The CHS counseling department has dealt with several cases where students shared their experiences with this subject.

“I’ve seen that students will sometimes try to drag [other students] through the mud, saying things that are not only hurtful but untrue through the Internet,” CHS head counselor Debbie Fruithandler said.

The anonymity of the Internet gives cover to cyberbullies, and the lack of face-to-face contact oftentimes makes the perpetrator more bold. One outlet for this anonymous bullying is Formspring.me, a Facebook application that enables people to anonymously ask questions for others to publicly answer. Users get a personalized URL that points their friends (or foes) to a plain page that simply teases, “Ask me anything.” Unfortunately, it enables people to fill a user’s in-box with hate mail, harassment, or other inappropriate statements that get posted publicly online.

“Overwhelmingly, students have told me that Formspring is really out of hand right now,” Fryman said. “When it comes to something like Formspring, what are you really getting out of it verses the so many risks that are involved?  Somebody might, once in a blue moon, say something kind of funny anonymously, but most people are using it to cowardly say disgusting things, inappropriate things, hurtful things, rumors and flat out lies.”

Hurtful posts range from small insults to huge, profanity-laced hate speech. While the victims of cyberbullying aren’t physically injured, spiteful comments can leave a profound mark.

“I thought it would be fun to get a Formspring,” sophomore Lucy Coles said. “But people started asking me rude questions, and I got a lot of really mean comments. I couldn’t believe that people would go out of their way to try to embarrass me online.”

Even though Cole has deleted several hurtful rumors and insults off of her Formspring, she continues to receive degrading posts.

“I don’t know who would do this kind of thing. And since Formspring posts can be made anonymous, I’ll probably never find out,” Coles said.

Fortunately, Coles received a lot of support from her real friends when they realized what was happening.

“After I got a bunch of rude comments… a lot of my friends posted nice posts telling me not to listen to them,” Coles said. “I’ve learned to ignore harsh Formspring comments—I know that none of my real friends would say anything like that and the people who bash me on Formspring are cowards.”

Coles came out of her cyberbullying experience unhurt; however, many students aren’t so lucky. Oftentimes, students who experience hateful comments online don’t know where to turn.

“The best person to talk to is going to be a parent or teacher that they really trust,” Fryman said. “And now, you can go through the police. The good news is that they’re starting to take this kind of thing seriously.”

Serious complaints can and should be filed with the police department—cyberbullying that leads to harm is held under the law.