Three years have passed since 15-year-old Amanda Todd of Port Coquitlam killed herself. The high school student was blackmailed into exposing her breasts online, and the Internet took over from there. A merciless technology she could not hide from dogged every day of her life.
So what has been done since then to rein in cyberbullying? According to a new report, written jointly by the province鈥檚 privacy commissioner and the children鈥檚 representative, not enough.
Elizabeth Denham and Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond make a convincing case that we have a genuine problem on our hands. About a third of school-age kids report being victims of cyberbullying, peaking at Grade 7 and 8. And unlike the physical bullying of earlier times, this version is much harder to escape.
But when it comes to providing a solution, Denham and Turpel-Lafond struggle. They call on the Education Ministry to focus more attention on cyberbullying in the school curriculum.
Well, yes, but the ministry already does that. Schools in B.C. also offer an online tool that students can use to report bullying to their teachers.
Some provinces have introduced anti-cyberbullying laws. Nova Scotia did so after a Dartmouth teen, Rehtaeh Parsons, hanged herself when photos of her alleged gang rape were posted online.
But law-enforcement solutions bring problems of their own. The Nova Scotia statute makes it an offence 鈥渢o cause fear, intimidation, humiliation, distress or other damage or harm to another person鈥檚 health, emotional well-being, self-esteem or reputation.鈥�
Much as we sympathize with the intent, language this broad is likely unenforceable. What do threats to 鈥渆motional well-being鈥� and 鈥渟elf-esteem鈥� include? Snarky emails? Unfriending someone on Facebook?
And that brings out one of the central dilemmas. While cyberbullying is widespread, it can be difficult to define.
Posting sexually explicit photos of a young person online is certainly illegal. Doing so is already a criminal offence.
But when Denham and Turpel-Lafond talked with kids who were being bullied, most told of someone who had been mean or cruel to them. That is shameful behaviour.
Yet how do we prevent it? Tell kids who are being victimized to stay off the Internet? Take their cellphones away, perhaps?
But that raises another conundrum. Almost every high-school student has access to the Internet out of school. Eighty per cent have a smartphone, and the typical teenager sends 50 to 60 text messages a day. Seventy-two per cent post pictures or comments on social media sites.
For better or worse, young people today live a substantial part of their lives online. The Internet has become their lifeblood. Forcibly shutting this down is next to impossible, the equivalent of house arrest, as Denham and Turpel-Lafond put it.
There is much to regret 鈥� and fear 鈥� about this. A digital social life is no substitute for the real thing. And with virtual technology growing in sophistication by the day, more than ever our kids will be consumed by it.
So how do we grapple with cyberbullying? Schools certainly have a role to play. Teachers see much that parents do not. And a visit to the principal鈥檚 office still counts.
But this is foremost a challenge for parents. In days gone by, if our child came home bloody or bruised, we would go and talk with the family of the culprit.
Cyberbullies aren鈥檛 anonymous 鈥� their identity is right there online. A phone call to the parents might do the trick. Failing that, social media sites are obliged to remove a child鈥檚 personal information if asked.
In short, there are ways we can protect our children from online harassment. But parents must play the lead role.
