Harassed or bullied online? Hit the panic button!
Kids who are harassed or bullied online may soon be able to hit a panic button for help.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a panic button widget that parents can install on PCs may soon enable Australian kids who feel that they are being bullied or harassed online may soon be able to call for help. When a kid hits the panic-button, he or she will be instantly connected with either the police and/or child protection groups.
While there is no doubt that kids are at risk from online bullies and predators, as the sad case of Megan Meier clearly demonstrates, is providing them with a panic button really the best way of dealing with the problem? There is an enormous difference between being approached by a predator in the real world and being approached by a predator in the virtual world. In the real world, kids need to know how to deal with such situations should they arise; in the virtual world, however, kids simply need to know to switch off their PCs when they feel threatened.
What do you think? Do kids need an online panic button? Or should we simply be telling them to use the shutdown button if they feel uncomfortable and to speak to an adult about what happened?
Filed Under: My Online Life > Privacy-Security
Tags: bullying, harassment, kids online, online safety, panic button
November 29, 2009
I am a single parent of a boy and a girl and a family law lawyer. My experience in law and in life tells me that children “need” their web connections too much to just turn off their computer, they also clearly need someone in authority who would seem to care, to support and assist them and that might also track down, identify and more, the predatory persons and bullies who hide behind their cyber space covers to ambush and attack defenceless persons. This “authority” might also be the very necessary “learning/teaching” resource that they need to help them develop identities that will protect them and others they may come into contact with and to limit the power of cyberspace and real time bullies and predators. It is not only an important defence and protection but a starting place for so much more.
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The panic button sounds like a good idea in theory, but much like other tools that are backed by the right intentions, it’s how they are used in practice that will make all the difference. I don’t think that turning off the computer is an effective way to deal with online bullying, in much the same way that I don’t think staying at home is a good way to deal with real-world bullying. Children have the right to participate in any online forum without the threat of being attacked by a bully. If this widget gives them an effective way to flag the bully to the right authorities, I see it as a logical extension of the zero-tolerance approach most schools are now taking: a complete about-face from the attitude of even 10 years ago, when “telling” was frowned upon and even punished. It’s a different world, with different problems, and we clearly need different solutions
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