Topic : 01/08 Cyber Bullies

I've been playing online games for years.  and this problem will never change espicially on  xbox live where this kind of stuff is not really monitored there are other alternatives though. like not letting your kids, or husbands play online untill they are mature enough to deal with it.  ITs no secret dirty mouthed little kids are rampant among the online gaming community and for games like halo3 and other xbox live games there is no way to avoid it short of getting rid of voice chat and messaging systems all togeether. the guy on the show said its so easy to get online these days you can go to the store and easily buy game cards to get online and then made some remark like "who do we blame microsoft or the stores?"  the thing is YOU make the choice to play online not microsoft or gamespot.  its also no secret "personal responsibility" is a dirty word in this country these days its always easier to point the finger at someone else.  THis guy is exposing his family to this not microsoft or any retailer.   if he does not like it he should not let it in his house .

 I do agree that what this guy was dealing with is a little extreme but i cant believe those poeple sent those messages unprovoked. I would bet my life hes not telling the whole story. wich is probally why microsoft is not taking any action. for the 10 years or so i've been playing online and the countless communities i have been a part of i have never seen people do something like that without there being a previous encounter where the two were in an argument. i can imagine it went something like this. "ha ha ha I kicked your F'ing a$$ you n word (probally having no idea the person he was talking to was actually black) to wich he naturally replied back something rather nasty and it escalated from there. the point i'm trying to make is that he decided his own level of involvemnt in that matter. he simply could have ignored it and went on to another game and it would have been over. there is no way that man could convince me he wasnt asking for it.

I'm not condoning this behavior but you cant stop it anymore than you can take porn off the internet it is always going to be there. there are communities were these things are closely monitered and not put up with wich he could easily become apart of if he chose to. there are countless groups where respect and fairness are promoted and servers are closely watched and talk to each other, these are PC games though as alot of PC game servers are consumer operated like the  Half Life 2  community for example but since it is consumer operated there may be some servers where they just dont care either way.  there is no 100 protection against idiodic kids who think its cool to curse but for the most part it can be avoided if you choose to do so.

I do not agree that the other ADULTS thought that what they were doing was right. That is crazy. There is bullying everywhere, but as parents we need to teach our children better ways to handle there problems than to get on the computer under another name and lure and coax a young girl into a bogus relationship. As for her mother, it is bad enough that those were her last words to her daughter. As far as trying to get the laws changed, maybe a possibility, maybe not. My heartfelt prayers go out to the Meier family

 My heart goes out to those parents whose daughter killer herself.  I can't help wonder why they didn't shut down her site and/or cancel the internet service altogether.  The mother said the daughter told her what was happening so they were aware of it.  Also, how did they not know that their daughter was so unstable? Who among us has not been called names or been talked to in threatening ways...even to the point of having phone calls?  But I don't think the answer is curtailing the 1st amendment.

Every computer and every game comes with a failsafe switch.  It is called the "OFF" button.

You don't HAVE to play an online game.  If your family is at risk....USE THE OFF BUTTON!!

Is a game worth your family's safety??? 

 

If my child is upset about something being said on-line......the computer is turned off.

Why would a parent let things go so far without hitting the "OFF" switch?

 

Unplug the television, disconnect the phone, cancel the internet service.  Isn't your kid's life worth it??

I had someone arrested and convicted for nasty e-mails. You tell them to stop, then call the cops and file a report the very next message. It's called harrassment. Also her account was terminated by the server. This is not as hard as people are making it. She was identified by the server too.

I am not sure I understand why a grown adult can't click onto another site or click to ignor user (which can be done) when playing a game.  No, no one should have to put up with what was said to any of the guest today.  But, the internet is an optional thing.  You don't have to choose to open a message.  You don't have to choose to stay in a game room.  You don't have to choose to listen and carry on a conversation (IM) with a person who is very obviously a bored idiot!

Although the man who plays the on-line games has a RIGHT not to receive death threats (and to have them investigated), I find the rest of his argument foolish.

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As an adult, if I go into a group of people and don't like their language, find them mean, don't like them calling me names, etc, I LEAVE the group. I don't expect them to all be wonderful, loving, kind human beings. That's not life and life is not fair at times.

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He is expecting TOO much. He wants bad behavior REGULATED. That's a great way to stifle free speech. Who gets to decide what is acceptable? And WHY ON EARTH would he EVER allow ANY of his kids to play on-line if he already knows the weirdos playing?????!

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Again, he has the RIGHT not to receive death threats, but he DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT to expect great, nice behavior from people at all times. He needs to leave the "playground" if he doesn't like the so-called "kids"!

She was only thirteen. Her mother mentioned that she had a very rough seventh grade year. I know exactly how that is. Middle school is a time when girls have the most trouble. To be completely honest middle school girls are pure evil, in their quest to feel good and there's always that one kid that's singled out. No matter who you ask they'll say something horrible this person and then to his or her face they'll be just fine. It never stops, though. Mom should have been there for her. I came home crying and I don't honestly think I would be here today if it hadn't been for my mom.
In another aspect I know her mother was frustrated and upset with her for going on to myspace when she told her to stay off of it. She didn't know that her daughter was going to take it so personally. I don't think that she was honestly thinking when she was yelling at her. There's so much more she could have done, though. There's this program called eBlaster where she could not only monitor everything happening on the computer, she could have also blocked the sites where her daughter was being harassed.
The mother of the other girl had no right to even allow her daughter to say what she said. It's to the point now that parents are blinded by their children. Said children can't ever do anything wrong and that isn't right. As parents you need to pay more attention and realize your 'angels' and 'babydolls' are not perfect. Kids and teens need to be given rules, boundaries and consequences. I say that as a sixteen-year-old that is very much on the side of being disciplined for my own mistakes. That's how we learn.

First, my condolences to the Parents.

It seems to me that there have been bullys in every generation, and that a parents responsibilty is to teach their children how to deal with life, including bullys. This mother herself said when her child came to her for help, her mother lashed out at her istead of teaching her how to deal with it. I waited the whole program for Dr. Phil to address that, and it wasn't mentioned. I am not condoning the evil in life, but the protection should be the parents responsibilty. She was not there with love or advice when her daughter came to her with a difficult situation. Its no wonder children of parents like that are insecure enough to be effected by the bullys. The mother is in denial and trying to blame everyone else.