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With so much nastiness prevailing, Maine-Endwell strives to stem cyberbullying
Maine-Endwell High School hosted an anti-cyber bullying ambassador training program. Students from Siena College, upstander ambassadors, trained M-E students to prevent cyberbullying and to help those who are victims of it.
Our opinion, from the editorial board of pressconnects.com.
Twenty Maine-Endwell High School “ambassadors” have been selected to work in a program to stem cyberbullying.
This kind of bullying doesn’t mean stolen lunch money, punches in the stomach or physical intimidation. Cyberbullying can be much more damaging – it's always present for the one being bullied.
“Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets,” reports stopbullying.gov. The nastiness can take many forms on social media. Intimidation, threats and humiliation are hallmarks of this type of bullying. The M-E program also emphasized sexual content, particularly the sharing of nude pictures intended to be private.
M-E, teaming up with AT&T, the Tyler Clementi Foundation and Siena College, introduced the program to students at the high school on November 13. The program was brought to the high school by Broome County Executive Jason Garnar and state Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo.
We live in an era of negativism. This bile and hatred spewing across the digital landscape emanates not only from our nation’s capital but from computers in dark basements in communities big and small.
Each day, one cannot avoid hearing the nasty din. But some are fighting the hatred where they have influence.
Cheers to the Maine-Endwell district and its students for taking on cyberbullies – those young hate-mongers in the making.
Cyberbullying is not uncommon and far easier and anonymous than the face-to-face variety. A Siena College survey in 2016 found about one-in-four teens in upstate New York said they had been victims of cyberbullies.
Why do they do it? Teens around Albany told the Siena survey there are many reasons, including “physical appearance (42 percent), social awkwardness (34 percent), being thought of as gay (36 percent), the clothes they wear (29 percent), being un-athletic (24 percent), having a disability (20 percent) or being sexually active (21 percent).”
Our heroes should be those who stand up to bullies for those who are being victimized. And Maine-Endwell’s goal is producing those heroes.
"I've definitely seen it often and it's not fair for the kids to go through it," 17-year-old senior Frankie Meyer said in the story by reporter Maggie Gilroy. Meyer is one of the ambassadors fighting cyberbullying.
One of the most troubling parts of Gilroy’s report was this: “Maine-Endwell is the only area school to feature the program.”
Why is this so?
Nearly every school today has anti-bullying programs. But cyberbullying is so pervasive, easy and often anonymous it needs to be addressed directly by every school district.