Frequently in the News

Social networking websites, blogs, and cell phones have become the new weapon of choice for children and teens to bully. While schools notice cyber bullying’s effect on their students, the public watches the media cover story after story of victimized youth.

An Internet user can find articles on incidents of cyber bullying with ease. Typing “cyber bullying stories” into any search engine and pages of results for that search will be displayed. The sources shown vary from websites dedicated strictly to the topic of cyber bullying to national news websites reporting cases on their main page.

National news websites like CBS and NBC even have dedicated archives of stories on cyber bullying. The occurrence of stories posted to these archives is frequent and date back several years. Thus making creditable stories that much easier to find online.

Also the frequency of cyber bullying cases making headlines produces articles that can focus on reporting the details of the actual incident rather than explaining what the term “cyber bullying” means. Although there are articles being posted that still spend a large portion of the piece defining this new term, many writers give the term a simple sentence definition or even assume the reader knows what the writer is referring to. And even though it seems cyber bullying is a new craze among children and teens, the public is knowledgeable about the topic due to the media’s regular addresses.

Cyber bullying has become an epidemic in children and teens all over the world and has become an epidemic that makes headlines regularly enough that it is now a household term. The media, especially the Internet, has made cyber bullying an issue that the public will be educated on.

Senate Tackles Cyberbullying

The Senate has opened discussion in Hawaii about prosecuting cyberbullies on criminal charges. House Bill 688 will require schools to create policies to deal with the problem of cyberbullying.

Lawmakers have mixed feelings about this bill. The earlier form of this bill had chronic cyberbullies facing a Class C felony with a minimum of five years in prison while first-time offenders would spend at least 48 hours in jail. Senator Suzanne Chun-Oakland sees a need to enforce consequences on offenders, but doesn’t believe criminalizing cyberbullying is the answer in every instance.

Other senators support House Bill 688 without question. Rep. Karen Awana thinks it’s extremely important to make children aware there are consequences to their actions when using a computer or phone. This bill will ensure the law will be keeping pace with the technology that is out there.

“Senate Tackles Cyberbullying” starts with a basic news headline that packs a lot of punch with author Chris Mikesell’s use of a strong verb. But the article’s lead differs from its headline as it is neither a basic news lead nor on the same topic. The narrative lead is does it’s intended job of introducing the need for the bill to be passed in the senate, but leaves the reader confused and wondering if they’re reading the right article for four paragraphs.

After the lengthy narrative lead the reader can find the nut graf. The nut graf is brief and much more newsworthy than the information in the lead. Quotes and attributions of members of the Senate and the House follow to support the ideas found in the nut graf. The variety of opinions addressed fills the rest of the article with objectivity. Mikesell further facilitates reader comprehension with a closing sentence of a bold quotation from the mother of a victimized child. Thus leaving a reader to decide how they feel about House Bill 688.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110410_Senate_tackles_cyberbullying.html

The bullying just won't stop.

“Cyberbullying Continued After Teen’s Death” begins with video of the news broadcast on a cyberbullying incident in Long Island, N.Y. The video portrays the emotional ride the parents of a harassed teen who took her own life have taken.

The video introduces the story while the basic news lead details on the newsworthiness of this event. CBS news correspondent Jeff Glor reports hateful messages continued to be posted on the social networking sites after the teen’s death. The nut graf reveals that even though the police are investigating the online attacks the teen faced, her parents want downplay its role in their daughter’s suicide.

This victimized teen’s story is only an introduction to several other topics discussed throughout the article as Glor touches on a cyber-bullying prevention bill being considering in Washington, D.C. and an organization called Love our Children USA that fights against cyber-bullying. Glor limits quotes to one, but attributes his sources as he briefly writes about all topics addressed.

The relevance between the newsworthy incident and more general news on cyberbullying is found through well-transitioned paragraphs rather than subheads or bullets. The reader is easily taken from one topic to the other without interrupting the comprehension of the article’s entirety. But the brief nature of moving from one topic to the next weakens the accuracy of the article, as there are limited sources to collaborate the information given.

Although brief, the article reports on relevant information as cyber-bullying incidents increase around the nation. With the use of two videos, the newscast of the teen’s untimely death and a clip from Love Our Children USA’s visit to the “Early Show”, and text in-between the video links, Glor educates the viewer with several media. This diversity in information and media facilitate reader comprehension from beginning to end.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/29/earlyshow/main6343077.shtml

McClure Middle School Takes Action

McClure Middle School follows through on its zero-tolerance for bullying policy by suspending 28 students allegedly involved in bullying a fellow student on Facebook. In the article entitled “Cyber-bullying leads to suspension of 28 middle-schoolers at McClure,” Linda Shaw reports McClure school administrators took action once they heard a Facebook page dedicated to harassing one of their students was posted.

Administrators are taking this as an opportunity to set an example for students how might be thinking about cyber-bullying a classmate and to discuss with parents and students about safe and appropriate Internet usage. Lisa Fitch, co-president of McClure’s PTSA, agrees with administrators decisions. Fitch is proud of McClure Middle School’s positive reputation, and is sad to see it splashed all over national news that the student body has a cyber-bullying problem.

“Cyberbullying leads to suspension of 28 middle-schoolers at McClure” is a brief article that starts out with a basic news headline and lead. The lead draws a reader in, but the awkwardly worded nut graf disrupts the reader’s flow. Accurate information is present throughout the piece, but many sentences are passive and much like the nut graf.

Shaw employs a variety of sources from school administrators to PTSA members to the director of Washington’s Office of Education. These sources add dimension to the quotes and attributions that fit into the organization of the piece without overpowering it. On the other hand, objectivity is limited as there is no mention of any parents or local citizens opposing the school administrators’ decision to suspend all 28 students.

Besides some awkwardly worded sentences and limited objectivity, the reader is left with an understanding of the events that have occurred at the McClure Middle School.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010807798_mcclure16m.html

Students Seek to Curb Online Harassment

Prevention through education is one approach some middle and high school students are taking to stop cyber-bullying. Students all over the country are revolutionizing the methods of teaching fellow classmates about cyber harassment and how to prevent it with the help of a program called Teenangels.

In the article “Students take a stand against cyber-bullying” by Michelle R. Davis, the program called Teenangels is outlined. Teenangels trains middle and high school students on Internet safety, and counsels them on how to deal with and prevent cyber-bullying. These students in turn present their knowledge to classmates. Parry Aftab, founder of Teenangels and expert on cyber-bullying, is seeing students responding more positively to their classmates’ presentation rather than a school official’s direction.

The article “Students take a stand against cyber-bullying” starts with a basic informative news headline. Davis follows the headline up with a narrative lead, which sets the scene for readers to understand why students are working to prevent cyber-bullying. The narrative spans three paragraphs placing the nut-graf in the fourth paragraph. The nut-graf explains what the article’s purpose of informing the reader of the Teenangels program.

Davis further educates the reader about Teenangels with quotes from cyber-bullied students and the founder of Teenangels. She also presents statistics from the Pew Research Center and the Cyberbullying Research Center to support the first-hand accounts of bullying. The diversity in attributions allow for objectivity throughout the piece.

Throughout the article, Davis entertains and informs readers with easy to follow sentences and her story-telling ability. Her use of strong verbs helps the reader flow from one sentence to the next with ease. Although there are no bullets or subheads, the piece is organized in a way that facilitates reader comprehension. Davis wraps the article up with a short quote by a once cyber-bullied teen to leave the reader with something to ponder.

http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/02/09/02cyberbullying-teens.h04.html

Suicide due to Cyber-bullying

Suicide is increasingly becoming a common consequence of cyber bullying. In the article “Immigrant Teen Taunted by Cyberbullies Hangs Herself” by Susan Donald James, Phoebe Prince is reported to be another adolescent to take her own life due to cyber bullying.

The case of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant, shakes a small Massachusetts community where Internet bullying is becoming all too common. The South Hadley Police Department has opened an investigation into the death after several classmates came forward to tell school officials Prince had been harassed via text messages and Facebook, Police Chief David LaBrie said in an interview with ABCNews.com.

Prince is not the only case of cyber bullying that has hit national news recently. A 13-year-old in Missouri, a 9-year-old in Texas, and an 11-year-old in Massachusetts are all cases of suicide due to cyber bullying in the last five years. “Some kids can be very mean towards each other using that medium,” South Hadley School Superintendent Gus A. Sayer told Boston Globe, and the problem just seems to be getting more out of hand.

“Immigrant Teen Taunted by Cyberbullies Hangs Herself” catches a reader’s eye on ABCnews.com as a basic news headline. Susan Donald James, the author, begins the article with a narrative lead, sparking the reader’s curiosity to keep reading. The nut graf, which follows the lead in the next paragraph, expands more on the narrative James has just begun.

As James continues reporting the basic information on this recent case, she includes short quotes and brief attributions to a variety of qualified sources. From the South Hadley Chief of Police to a psychologist who specializes in adolescents, facts are supported with quotes that compliment the article rather than overpower the author’s words. Thus keeping the article objective and accurate throughout.

Although the article’s length of two online pages could have been daunting for a reader, James organizes the piece with subheads. This format along with the use of strong verbs and the avoidance of any clichés facilitates reader comprehension. James wrote an easy to read article that could be useful and informative to a wide range of audiences.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cyber-bullying-factor-suicide-massachusetts-teen-irish-immigrant/story?id=9660938&page=2

"Taking on the Cyber Bully" in Middletown, Connecticut

School administrators nation-wide are attempting to solve the problem of cyber-bullying by their students. In the online article “Taking on the cyber bully: Middletown schools battles social media networks” by Jason Siedzik, a Middletown school administrator outlines the steps the school is taking towards cracking down on this out-of-control craze.

 Middletown school administrators, along with actively researching solutions, have teamed up with the local police department to ramp up the resistance against cyber bullying, Justin Carbonella, Youth Services Director, said. The police have been helpful in getting Facebook posts taken down, but the matter still seems to fall into the “parental oversight” department. Carbonella feels the majority of bullying results from parents providing phones and computers with an all-access pass to those social media networking sites.

The headline, “Taking on the cyber bully: Middletown schools battles social media networks”, catches the eye with the use of strong action verbs when scrolling through the Middletown Press newspaper’s website. The want to read this article only increases after reviewing its basic news lead. Even with its two clichés, the reader is left wondering what the school administrators are doing to tackle this issue.

The nut graf, located in the third paragraph, expands on the information found in the lead and introduces the only source in the article with a quote. Quotes are abundant throughout the article and feature only one attribution, Justin Carbonella. Siedzik’s reliance on only one source begs the question of how reliable the information published actually is.

Although Carbonella’s quotations make up most of the article, Siedzik’s use of strong verbs engages and guides the reader through the article. Siedzik facilitates reader comprehension of the story through easy to read sentences and clarity when relaying facts. The inverted pyramid format further assists the reader in obtaining knowledge of Middletown’s active approach toward cyber bullying.

http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2011/02/14/news/doc4d58a657d4b96284192407.txt?viewmode=fullstory