Self Protection

1. Always be polite when you are online. You never know what someone could take a screen shot of and circulate around and cause trouble. Remember: once you post it, you lose it.

2. Passwords are passwords for a reason. DO NOT give them away at whim and be careful of letting others see them. Give them only to people you trust like your parents or your close friends if the situation needs you to do so.

3. Think of a group of people whom you would like to let them see your posts online. Always check your privacy settings!

4. When you encounter something online that is being repeatedly done to you by someone that makes you feel scared or uncomfortable, tell an adult you trust, preferably your parents or a teacher. They are the people who would be able to offer help.

5. Refrain from chatting with complete strangers online. Young, old, male or female, anyone can be dangerous. After all, they are behind a screen and you can only see their online persona.

6. Don't retaliate. Eg. insulting the person, using profanities etc. Just ignore someone if they do things that make you feel uncomfortable. Do not give them any attention and soon, they would just leave you alone.

Advice taken from Moriah's brain. Any coincidence with anything is purely coincidental.

Seanl94. Thumbs-up sign from 9gag. Digital image. Bodynet Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzRqcPIhLQ5Rm9WFSfgGfCdxA8fHK5wq9IZidN3W17nEZ8AvHd>.

Recommendations

Now that we have discussed all these issues, how do we solve it?

Schools could conduct talks to raise awareness and educate students on the dangers of cyber bullying. They can also teach students not to be too naive and trust anyone on the internet as you can never be certain that the person you are talking to is being honest and has no other hidden motives.They can also show students how to be socially responsible and to be careful when discussing sensitive topics online. Schools should also help children to identify viruses so as to make sure they do not fall prey to them. 

Parents could also monitor their children when they are on the computer, to ensure they are being safe and responsible on the internet. 

In conclusion, we feel that the internet is a very useful thing, but only when used responsibly and wisely. Therefore, we should help educate our young to ensure that they do use the internet wisely and responsibly. 

All opinions and ideas are our own. If it happens to be similar to anyone else's product, it was completely co-incidental. 

The Cyber Bullying Virus

This video took a very interesting approach to cyber-bullying, by comparing it to a virus, where it is just like a virus and can spread from person to person, and even cause someone's death. The causes of cyber-bullying were portrayed through the girls from the same school as Jane, the victim, who cyber-bullied her, namely Hate, Anger, Envy, Insecurity and Peer Pressure. However, Courage, Compassion, Bravery and Hope, namely the names of the girls who stood up for Jane, are what can stop and put an end to this virus. This video has an interesting concept, and aptly shows the impacts of Cyber-bullying, and how it is very important to stand up against the hate, anger, envy, insecurity ad peer pressure circulating around the internet. This video clearly shows that the 'by-stander' has the most power, as your decision can turn the tables around. Will you chose to join in the hate, anger, insecurity and peer pressure, or will you be courageous, compassionate, brave and hopeful, and stand up in support for others? What is your decision?

THE CYBER BULLYING VIRUS. Dir. Christina Abbot. Youtube. Youtube, 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5PZ_Bh-M6o&feature=related>.

Think Before You Click

This is a cinema commercial written and directed by Colin Mclvor about cyber bulling with the slogan "think before you click".  I feel that it shows very clearly the 5 stages of cyber bullying: the first stage where one is bullied online, the second where it escalates and you don't have to be online to be bullied, the third where you get isolated in public places like school (in this scenario), the fourth where you really begin to believe that you are what those bullies claim you are and the last and most depressing stage where you isolate yourself from others, even family and friends.

In the video, the director uses simple words like nerd, loser, ugly, fat etc and it may actually seem not that scary if we use our logic. But as shown, even simple words like these hurt really bad and often, people from the outside looking in cannot and can never understand the reason for the depression which thus results in the lack of psychological comfort. Sometimes this can also be the reason for friends to start mocking you, thinking that you're making a big fuss out of nothing and going like "she killed herself over something so stupid?!"

Cyber bulling can really bring a lot of pain and hurt and people should never judge and instead, stay by their friends' sides and encourage them to go to a counselor for professional help. Normal everyday people like us can also become cyber bullies by simple things that we do, like posting on Facebook or indirect tweeting on Twitter. We might think that it is only something minor and that the person might not see it and as a whole but we should really all, think before we click.

CYBER BULLYING CINEMA COMMERCIAL. Dir. Colin Mclvor. Youtube. Youtube, 3 Dec. 2007. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKoUegW5cPE>.

NUS Cyber Bulling

And this is what one poor girl under the financial assistance scheme and the University Scholars Program (UPS) in the 2nd best university in Asia, NUS, got for her writing style. The USP Facebook group, of about 600-700 members did not give any access to professors but included the alumni and the girl, Keira Chen, herself. It was the base for all the backlash and hate against her. The students mocked her saying that she "isn't the brightest crayon in the box" just because she stated in articles that she spent 3.5 hours reading something when others spent only 2. They also said that she was "veh stupid" and that she seemed "so proud of it" mocking her because she said that she needed to read some things three times. 

Worse, they even started saying that she was not worthy of being in USP. 

All these information was gathered from this webpage: http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=15519 and you can refer to it to read about the whole case. 

In my opinion, I feel really sorry for Keira as I don't see how she deserved any of this. All she did was to post her writings online and yet she received so much backlash for it. Everyone is unique and different and I feel that the students have no right to say such things about her, lest say that she is not worthy of being in the USP. This is probably one of the better cases where not much damage like suicide or self-inflicted hurt occurred but it might have escalated to that without her friends' help.

Koh Choon Hwee. "Cyberbullying in NUS." The Kent Ridge Common. The Kent Ridge Common, 28 May 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=15519>. 

CLICK & KILL

Hello there!I see you have stumbled across our blog. We are Bacon, and this would be our blog for our Media Literacy Programme!

Our blog is all about cyberwellness - the dangers, consequences of cyberbullying, and our plan on how to make schools in Singapore an anti-cyberbullying zone. So sit back, relax and enjoy! :)