We have all heard about the problems with cyber-bullying and somehow we are suppose to be surprised that this is happening? The fact is that cyber bullying is really no different than kids fighting in a sandbox in the second grade. Throw in a little anonymity and you will even find grown adults acting like children on the Internet, blogs and forums. The unfortunate truth is that bullying is human nature and there is probably not a lot we can do about it.
Of course, this will not keep the authorities from trying. After all, we live in a politically correct world and reward people for being tattletales, whistleblowers or for their performance in the blame game. There have been some recent high profile cases where cyber bullying has caused severe problems including a suicide from a teen.
Now the Illinois attorney general has announced cyber bullying training, which consists of a 90-minute training program. Cyberbullying can lead to violence in the real world and this is something that the state of Illinois is looking into. Now there is a new group called the ICAC, which has been created to stop sexual exploitation of children. They are also helping to stop con artists and identity theft. The Illinois Attorney General's plan is to convict offenders.
This poses a little bit of a problem, because it challenges the rights of free speech and it might be making criminals out of people who are using the Internet who just have bad behavior. In some regards, it is a great program because it stops sexual predators and in another regard it is the Internet PC police and that is absolutely dangerous to our freedoms in this great nation. Definitely something to contemplate in 2008.
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington
Source: www.isnare.com
