The Daughter brought home a bunch of anti-bullying material from school one day this past semester. Much of it came from StopBullying.gov, which defines the behavior as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.”
At around the same time, I attended a symposium sponsored by some library students that featured, among many others, the ITS Enterprise Information Security Office (EISO), formerly the NYS Office of Cyber Security. It’s a terrible name for an important task. One of its tasks involves fighting cyberbullying, which is “the repeated use of information technology, including e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, chat rooms, pagers, cell phones, and gaming systems, to deliberately harass, threaten or intimidate others. Unlike physical bullying, where the victim can walk away, technology now allows for continuous harassment, from any distance, in a variety of ways.”
The Daughter turned me on to this video, Never Ever (The Bully Project) by Keenan West, a self-described anti-bullying activist from Cincinnati, Ohio. Here are some of the lyrics:
When the going gets tough
And the tough get going
And you feel like you are all alone
When you’re in trouble
Can’t see your way
And you can’t make it
Another day
Through the rain and through the fire
Even in your toughest day
I’ll be right here by your side
I’ll be with you all the way
Through the ups and through the downs
I’ll be here until the end
Keep in mind no matter what
Through it all you’ve got a friend
