Topic : 01/08 Cyber Bullies

I couldn't agree more!!!! I feel we are way too politically correct today!!! Everyone needs to lighten up. I anm so disappointed the way we as Americans are moving.  Everytime one opens his/her mouth someone is being offened . I don't have a problem with any joke as long as it is set as a joke. We can't tell jokes and we can't even say Merry Christmas is this a place where I want to raise kids?

The first, last, and most important line of defense against cyber-bullying among children is simple: If parents learn to understand their children and the technology they use, they can moderate and filter it by simply being involved. 

  

If you fear that your child is (or will be) bulled online, screen the content (and the people) they interact with. When I was a teenager, I was not allowed to have my personal computer (the one in my room) connected to the internet. Only our family computer in the common area of our house had an internet connection so that my parents could always observe my internet activity. 

  

Pages like MySpace and Facebook can be dangerous, but when parents pay attention to what their children are doing, the risks greatly decrease. Monitoring your children is not the government's responsibility.  

  

As for the Xbox issue... 

  

Anybody who knows anything about technology knows that video and audio chat can be disabled or restricted in Xbox live. If you don't want to risk encountering "perverted" images while playing online Uno, turn the feature off, and you'll never have to worry about it.  

  

I think people are trying to put way to much responsibility on external parties. If you take the time to get to know your kids and your technology, most problems can be avoided. 

 

As much as I abhor bigotry and hate, I don' think you can legislate good behavior.  And while I apologize, as a fellow human being, to the guest who has been subjected to being threatened and insulted, I can't agree that it is the responibility of Microsoft to immediately respond based on his word that these incidents occurred.  I'm not doubting his word at all.  In answer to his question as to whose responsibility it is to protect his children from this threat, I think it is his. You have to be careful with whom your chidre play.  On the internet, this is very difficult to do.  So you're left with a choice.  Is it worth the risk of subjecting your children to that ridiculously obnoxious behavior to let them do what "everyone else is doing?"  I wouldn't let a precious child play online any more than I'd take him to a bar.  At the same time, Microsft should be willing to see the proof you've collected and ban the idiot who is threatening you without the added weight of Dr. Phl. 

Yikes, I found that woman scary and no matter if the joke was funny or not as a public official she should not be posting it.  Why does she find it necessary to post such a joke on a public forum anyway? she should share it with her friends and family (among whom thank god i don't belong!) and be respectful of the rest of us!

     I'm not entirely sure if Dr. Phil even reads these. However, after sitting and suffering through his show with my mother this evening, I found that it was essential to create an account on here and speak my piece.

     First of all, I am a highly skilled online gamer, and have been for many years. I play competively and on many different game platforms. I know the gaming world inside and out. I know the rules, the players, and all the tricks of the trade, but let me first start off by saying that I support Microsoft entirely, They have an absolute zero tolerance policy for harrassment, and it is very simple to report players, and talk to a GM in-game. How do I know this? One, I have had one account banned from Xbox live in my gaming career from a gaming party at which harsh words were exchanged. Two, I have worked as a GM on different gaming servers.

     When a player is dominating the playing field, it is understood that with the adrenaline pumping, and with everyone yelling and screaming into your headset, that things will get heated, and very quickly. However, the only players that are ever yelled at, tormented, or threatened with empty promises are those that choose to partake. There are several simple procedures that I did not hear the man on your show state that he had taken to avoid rude gamers. the first, and most obvious, would be to simply mute the player. Players can be individually muted. I use the mute feature quite frequently to avoid noisy and arrogant players. The second, and most obvious option would be to choose to not wear a headset and partake in the voicechat in any way. The thrid option would be to cease playing online.

     I have found that most often, the players that are crazy, out of control, and screaming obscenities are those who cant keep up with the rest of the gaming world. When a player is beaten, they most often trash talk, accuse one of cheating, or just get genuinely mad, thus saying things I am sure that their own mothers would not be proud of. There are some out there, like myself, that love the game, for just the game. I love the thril of dominating someone and knowing that they are truly alive, and breathing somewhere out in the world. I put up with harassment, verbal abuse, and just downright nastiness all of the time. I am always online, and I have heard, and seen grotesque things. But there are so many Parental Blocks, and Passwords, that can be set, for those who are concerned for their childrens safety.

     In my opinion, if you are not up to par with the rest of the gaming world, then please do not try to be. And please do not go on national television and talk down about something that you know very, very little about. For some, these games, these people, they are our escape from the stresses of the real world. If you are a "n00b" and just cant live with that fact, then please, put down the controller, and just walk away.

    

Having control over a gaming room depends on where you play.  I have been a fan of on-line gaming with Novalogic for a number of years.  I even hosted one of the game rooms for a couple of years. What I liked about it was that the people who played on the various squads would come to my room and those of my on-line friends because we openly stated we were family rooms and cussing and bullying was not tolerated.  With the programs available to those that host Novalogic game rooms, we had the ability to "boot" players off.  We could ban them for short periods or permanently.  One program allowed the host to capture IP address so we could keep track of offenders. The host could "boot" or "kick" a player out of the game.  There is even a cheat blocker program.  We required everyone to download the cheat blocker.  This leveled the playing field so everyone could enjoy time together, especially the younger players.

It may also interest readers that the vast majority of the players were adults, and not children.  What children did play were mostly high school aged.  I have cut back on my on-line time because the newer games don't allow us out here in cyber world to host rooms.  We are playing in the rooms provided by the manufacturer and must pay before be play.  I never did that with Novalogic.  We could host for free and play in their server for free.  With this new change, I became frustrated. Just another way to make money. 

I am not minimizing the fact that a girl is dead. But HOW ON EARTH can a girl be so depressed or unstable so that being called some names causes her to hang herself and the parents have no clue? Devil's advocate, if name calling pushed her over the edge, wouldn't it have been something else soon? WHERE WAS THE MOTHER AND FATHER??? The girl was UNSTABLE!!

 

Why was this name calling allowed to continue? The mom KNEW about it--KNEW it was occuring and let it happen. Let her daighter keep going with it.

 

DOES ANYONE ELSE FIND IT HYPOCRITICAL THAT THIS WOMAN HAS CRUCIFIXES EVERYWHERE BUT HOPES THE OTHER WOMAN ROTS IN HELL AND "NEVER SEES A DAY IN HEAVEN"?????

 

How many severely depressed people take the time to plaster on so much makeup??

 

Mom's blaming everyone but the one who deserves it---herself. Name calling is not illegal. Nor should it ever be. Countless generations have been teased and made fun of and never commited suicide.

 

WATCH YOUR CHILDREN!!! Instead of bleaching your hair and blaming everyone else for your lack of parental skills.

One shouldn't blame Xbox Live for racist and offensive comments made mostly by ignorant young kids.  I've logged thousands of hours on LIVE and various other online game services and every one of them from Live to playstation online to warcraft and many others, all have similar issues and its usually underage kids  doing this stuff.  Every service I have used give an option to mute and block offensive people not to mention have EULA's and Service Agreements that warn of such things so to blame the service for immature people is rediculous.  And bringing up sales figures of Halo 3, which is actually the first time Microsoft's Xbox division  has actually not been in the red since the service began, look how much they lost last year.  This trying to bring money into the figure leads me to believe the people on this show are just looking for a payoff.  Speaking of millions, they have millions of unique accounts login everyday so it is impossible to monitor everything.   I seriously doubt so many people call in and report this offensive behaviour instead of just filing a complaint on the console, which does work, just look at the thousands that were banned for offensive behaviour and cheating during Halo 2's hayday.  I suggest the people learn how to place people ignore, quit using the service or more simply, grow up.

 After watching the program today I find myself very disturbed and angry.  I always hear people sounding off about free speech and civil rights.  I believe that civil rights should stand only for people who are civil human beings.  i don't believe our founding fathers, Who by the way founded our country on human dignity and human rights, meant for our constitution to allow for degrading ,demeaning, hateful ,threatening communication,  be allowed to hurt another human being.  You may have a right in your own mind to think what you want , but you do NOT have the right to harass or frighten another person.  This internet mess is frightening. There must be found a way to protect the innocent and prosecute the invaders.  I'm so sick of going to play a game and someone becoming so vulgar you have to leave.  How dare they think they have the right .  Aren't we taught growing up to watch our mouth and attitudes? It should not be any different on line.  I agree we need some form of legislation as to what can be said or done legally on line as far as inappropriate behavior and language.

 

although i believe it is tragic what happened to Megan and I certainly feel for her parents, I do think some blame has to be affixed to them. I do not allow my children on "my space" or anything of that nature. They do not even have their own email account. The internet as Mr. Gates designed it originally, was not for my space or gaming, but, as an information highway. Don't want your children bullied on the internet, keep them off of it. Be a parent, yea, I know it is hard work, but, real parents say no and monitor their children's activities closely.

As for the council woman, I believe that what she said was childish and certainly not appropriate for a public official. But, as a veteran who fought for her right of free speech, she is entitled to that. If it offends you, don't read it. If being cursed or called names on the internet offends you, don't go on the internet. It is the same as someone who doesn't believe in religion and praying in school or at ballgames...ok, don't pray, but you shouldn't have the right to tell me not to. Talk about offended, I get real offended when I hear a foreign language in public in America. This is MY country, want to live here, learn English, don't expect us to learn your language. We didn't make you come here, but, if your are so badly offended, please feel free to go home.