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2009/14: Is Australia doing sufficient to prevent cyber bullying of children and adolescents?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: A morning news segment in which psychologist and youth depression expert Michael Carr-Gregg discusses bullying and what can - and cannot - be done about it.
If you cannot see this clip, it will be because YouTube is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows YouTube clips.
What they said...
'Cyber-bullying is a problem but I don't really think there is any way that we could stop it'
A comment made by the best friend of a fourteen-year-old Victorian schoolgirl who killed herself after a cyber-bullying incident
'The Government is interested in fostering a safe online environment and helping develop responses to internet risks'
Senator Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
The issue at a glance
In May 2009 it was reported that two adolescent girls had been asked o leave one of Sydney's elite private schools because of cyber-bullying.
The girls were taken out of the school after they published material on the social networking website, My Space, containing personal and possibly defamatory information about their classmates. The postings included information on the other students' alleged sexual proclivities, drinking, drug use and relationships.
A parent of one the girls who had been victimised in this way said that her daughter was horrified when strange boys began approaching her in public because they had read these fraudulent and damaging posts about her.
In July, 2009, the media carried reports of the suicide of a 14-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl whose death followed an incident of cyber-bullying. The girl's mother was interviewed on radio and stated her belief that her daughter's suicide was linked to the bullying.
Incidents such as these have led some authorities to argue that Australia is not doing sufficient to address the problem of cyber-bullying, especially as it affects the young.
The federal government has defended itself against such accusations by pointing to the large amount of funding it has directed toward addressing cyber issues. It has also pointed to its use of extensive surveys and consultation with young people to help it develop more effective measures in this area.
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