“Responsibility: What’s Your Policy?“

Should the bully take responsibility for bullying? What if their adults? What if they are adolescents? The question of who to blame for cyber bullying is a tough one. There is no right or wrong answer, only what ifs, prevention programs, and in some cases, state laws.

According to Liberty Mutual’s statistics collected in 2011, 77% of  social media users think that parents are and should be made responsible for resolving cyber bullying if their child is involved. 69% of social media users also think that schools should be more attentive and active in stopping cyber bullying. The article continued to reveal statistics such as

• parents are much more inclined to allow their children to have a Facebook or MySpace account before the age of 18
• only one in five (17 percent) parents would allow their child under age 18 to own a Facebook or MySpace account without monitoring their child’s account.
• majority of parents whose children have social media accounts are “friends” with their children on Facebook or MySpace (74 percent)

These statistics came from a survey released by Liberty Mutual’s The Responsibility Project. This project is the company’s campaign to “showcase personal acts of responsibility and daily examples of ordinary people making the decision to do considerate things for strangers.”

But who’s responsibility is it? Does it rest on parents? On schools? On the bully themselves? This debate will more than likely never be resolved. The same question exists with bullying itself. With cyber bullying, you add to the mix: site policies. Should it be a combination of the three? Most schools have anti-bullying programs and most parents probably talk with their children about it. But is that enough? cyber bullying and bullying continue to be an issue today. What else can we do to help?

What about bystanders? What, if anything, are they doing to help?

Get mad. Get Strong. Stand.

What can you do? The best way to make changes is to stand up for what you think is right, stand up for those that are unable or scared to for themselves. Be positive. Be the change.

• Don’t respond, retaliate, or forward any cyber bullying messages.
• Keep evidence (screenshots, print out emails/texts). This allows you to report instances to web and cell phone service providers
• Block the bully from social media.
• Report instances of cyber bullying to
  • Websites: will allow the site/company to take action against users for abusing terms of service.
  • Law enforcement: when there are threats of violence, sexually explicit messages, stalking, hate crimes (vary from state to state).

Do what you know is right and spread positivity. Why not start the change or keep it going with you?