By Chi Ab Vang
For the CVPost
Cyberbullying is nothing new to Justin Patchin. So when the new owners of a major social media website realized the site needed to be made safer for its users, they sought help from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire expert.
Last August, the popular but controversial website Ask.fm was purchased by the Oakland, CA-based Ask.com. The site is controversial because law enforcement agencies and the media have linked it to teen suicides said to be the result of cyberbullying by Ask.fm users.
Patchin was invited to join an Ask.fm Safety Board and to help the new owners of the site create a safer, more positive environment for the millions of users around the world – many of them teens – who use Ask.fm regularly for anonymous online chats.
Patchin, an associate professor of criminal justice, has been studying cyberbullying since 2001. He also teaches a course at UW-Eau Claire on the misuse of Internet technology by teens.
“My goal with Ask.fm is to create a mechanism, where people can basically do that themselves,” Patchin said of the goal to make the site safer. “To have a way to report abuse and have that content taken down.“
Website’s “no deleting” policy under review
When Ask.fm was started in 2010, it was designed as a site where users could ask and answer questions anonymously. The website’s underlying principle was free speech no matter what the circumstance, even if the speech was offensive, Patchin said.
“They wouldn’t delete the comments, because this is your free speech,” he said. “So that’s obviously a problem. If it’s something that’s hurtful, threatening, that was their philosophy. Free speech; you can say whatever you want.”
Ask.fm’s highly publicized links to cyberbullying and teen suicides and were directly tied to this “no deleting” policy, Patchin said. However, the new owners of the website are now trying to address the issue of cyberbullying via threatening messages.
Cyberbullying, in general, has been a hot topic due to technological advancements and increasingly easy access to the Internet.
Many people believe cyberbullying has reached a peak, Patchin said. But, he added, there hasn’t been a significant increase in cyberbullying; it’s just that the problem is being more widely recognized due to its prominence in today’s media.
“We’re hearing more and more examples (of cyberbulling), which is a good thing so that we can create awareness of the problem,” Patchin said.
Bullying problem being addressed locally
Becky Larson, a guidance counselor at Eau Claire’s South Middle School, said students at her school are taught how to respond to bullying of both the traditional and online varieties.
“South designates a week to teach students about what bullying is, what respect is, what you should do in a situation, what you shouldn’t do,” Larson said.
Along with the designated week, South Middle School has a “respect” poster that is displayed around the school as a reminder to students that help is available for those victimized by any form of bullying.
The school also has adopted a confidential harassment/bullying report to encourage students to report any bullying that has happened, either to the individual or others they see are being bullied.
These tools are a mechanism to help students feel safe, Larson said. But, she adds, it’s important that parents stay aware of what their children are doing online and keep up to date with the newest developments in social media.
“It’s more than just monitoring your kids at home that is critical,” said Larson, herself the mother of three teenagers. “Our society has changed, our access to technology has changed. So as parents we have to learn, and we have to learn fast.”
Parents and schools need to work together
Patchin has made presentations about cyberbullying at most schools in the Chippewa Valley. He said school administrators understand that online harassment is a problem, and it’s a problem they cannot solve on their own.
“Schools, by themselves, are not going to be able to deal with this. Parents are going to struggle by themselves,” he said. “Parents and schools, and potentially law enforcement, need to work together to send a strong message that we are not going to tolerate these kinds of behaviors in our community.”
Patchin said all instances of cyberbullying, as well as traditional bullying, need to be reported, whether by the victims or those who have witnessed it occurring.
It’s difficult for any individual to stop cyberbullying, Patchin said. But having people who are willing and able to spread awareness of the problem in their community is a vital first step in combating the problem.
“It really will take a whole village to solve this problem,” he said.