Blogbullies

Last Thursday, an article on cyber bullies by Amy Harmon was published in New York Times. As blogs are tools that "enable the harassment to be both less obvious to adults and more publicly humiliating, as gossip, put-downs and embarrassing pictures are circulated among a wide audience of peers with a few clicks.", they are discussed in the article. You must register though to read the article, thus here's an excerpt:

"Everyone hates you," read an anonymous comment directed toward a girl who had signed her name to a post about exams on a blog run by middle-school students at the Maret School in Washington, D.C., last term.

"They would talk about one girl in particular who had an acne problem, calling her pimpleface and things like that which was really mean," one Maret student said. "That stuck with me because I've had acne, too."

One of the girls who started the blog said she and her friends had deleted all the posts because so many people - including some parents - began to complain. "I didn't see why they cared so much," said the girl, who preferred not to be identified. "It's obviously not as serious as it seems if no one's coming up to you and saying it."

It seems to me like some kids don't see that even though it might feel unreal posting mean things on the Internet, almost like writing a diary, the consequences of the action are very real indeed.