Internet Intensifies Bullyingan article intended for English III LRE/Regular mix class

Quantitative Lexile score of 1030; Flesch-Kincaid score of 7.5 this results in placement in the 5
th
to 6
th

grade level band according to the Updated Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Ranges from
Multiple Measures
Qualitative The subject of this article is of great interest to students of this age. Over 90% of high
school students text today and a large majority have Facebook accounts. Bullying is a subject that is of
great concern in school settings today , so, as a result, cyberbullying is a subject that will get students
attention.
Reader and Task In a class such as this, there are many non-readers, and many times reading levels of
3.0 to 12.9 in the same class The high interest level of this article, combined with the low end reading
level, makes it accessible and comprehendible for all students either through actual reading or verbatim
assistance. The media coverage of teen suicides due to cyberbullying makes this a topic that lends itself
well to class discussion as a follow-up to this activity. Students at this level, although many times
academically struggling, often display an acute interest in current events. This will also be a motivator in
using this article.
The questions are organized from easier to more challenging, asking the students to think more deeply
and critically as they experience this article.
Internet Intensifies Bullying

Parents Are Often Clueless and Powerless Over Online Activity

By Sandy Banks
It seems to happen often enough that we're no longer shocked to hear it: A teenager commits suicide
after being bullied online by peers.
But the recent death in Florida of 12-year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick and arrest of two of her former
middle school classmates makes it clear that victims are getting younger and bullies more brazen online.
Two girls, 12 and 14, have been charged with felony aggravated stalking based on evidence of a year of
online taunts and threats. Sheriff's deputies confiscated the cellphones and laptops of more than a dozen
girls accused of bullying Rebecca and found messages such as "You should die."
This may be the first time children have been accused of a crime in connection with suicide. But it's also a
window into bigger issues that criminal charges can't resolve:
The tools and tenor of bullying are different and more dangerous in this generation than they were in
mine. Anti-bullying programs are good but not enough. We rely on them to promote empathy and respect
for those who don't fit in. But it's not just misfits singled out for torment; it can be anybody that somebody
doesn't like.
The same sort of crowd-sourcing that helps startups thrive can turn a middle school clique into an online
mob.
It's easy for bullies to enlist allies who can just post something nasty -- even anonymously -- online,
instead of risking an unpleasant confrontation face to face. And it's hard for victims to hide from insults
delivered 24-7 on their cellphones.
Parents are clueless about the culture and temptations online.
The 14-year-old charged with stalking displayed a stunningly callous message on her Facebook page just
after Rebecca died. "Yes [I know] I bullied REBECCA and she killed herself but [I don't care]," it said. The
message ended with a little pink heart.
Her parents insist that the teenager is "a loving, caring, supportive young girl with many friends." Her
Facebook page must have been hacked, they said. But when the sheriff asked them to bring her in for a
talk, they refused and lawyered up.
Rebecca's mother knew she was being bullied. She pulled Rebecca from school and taught her at home,
monitored her Facebook page and took away her cellphone. But when things calmed down, she loosened
the reins and Rebecca went back online.
Rebecca posed questions about suicide, set up new social media accounts, even made a screen saver
with a photo of her head resting on railroad tracks. She called herself "That Dead Girl" on one of her
secret online sites that her mother never saw.
Rebecca attended a school that discouraged bullying. Her mother tried to protect her.
But careful parenting and school assemblies are no match for an adolescent ethos where nastiness is
acceptable and being popular means everything.
Our culture is part of the problem.
Our children grow up watching reality shows where boorish behavior is rewarded and insults, taunts and
racist remarks hike ratings and create stars. And nothing is off-limits for criticism on countless makeover
programs. Your clothes, your voice, your cooking, your weight ... judges find fault with everything, while
contestants try not to cry.
Then there are the marathon sessions that boys spend with popular violent video games, where beating
and raping women is an entertaining backdrop. The latest installment of Grand Theft Auto raked in $1
billion in three days. And we wonder why teenage boys might think it's all right to have sex with a drunken
14-year-old girl.
Middle school has never been a very easy passage. But it's been made harder by social media, which
invites immersion and seclusion at a time when teenagers should be learning to actually talk with one
another.
Rebecca's case shows that online connections can be both a noose and lifeline.
She was shunned by her real-life best friend, the 12-year-old charged with tormenting her. The girl feels
terrible about Rebecca's death, investigators said. She told them she was more afraid of becoming a
target of bullies herself than she was aware of just how much pain she might have been causing
Rebecca.
Rebecca responded by seeking solace from far-flung friends she knew only online. They listened, liked
her and didn't judge her face, her weight, her skin.
But being online meant being vulnerable to former classmates' cruel and endless taunts. One message
read: "nobody cares about you." Her response: "Lol I know."
But she wasn't laughing when she reached out for one last time, to a boy from North Carolina that she'd
met when their paths crossed randomly in an airport.
"I'm jumping. I can't take it anymore," she wrote in a message he received the day she jumped to her
death from a silo in an abandoned cement factory near her home. He apparently told no one. Maybe
because he didn't know anyone in her life to warn.
1- What is the main idea of this reading?
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2- What motivates students to engage in bullying and cyberbullying behavior?
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3- Trace the evolution of bullying from the elementary classroom to the type of cyberbullying that
is featured in this article.
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4- Find one quote from the article that supports the following assertion and write it on the lines
provided:
(Remember: Direct quotes must include quotation marks.)
Social media has helped bullying become a much more serious and frequent problem.
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5- Using the context of this article, explain the meaning of this sentence:
Rebecca's case shows that online connections can be both a noose and lifeline.
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6- How effective are the examples used in proving the case against cyberbullying? Why do you feel
the way you do?
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