John Carosella On Cyberbullying
Earlier this week I posted the first of three installments of my interview with John Carosella, vice president of content control at Blue Coat Systems. He had so much to say that I wanted to break it up into groups.
This installment has to do with a topic that I’m very sensitive about and feel that every parent should too. That topic is cyberbullying. Very damaging, very real, and it’s something that will only get worse if we don’t stand up against it.
And so, here’s John’s responses:
FWW: I’m sure we’d all agree that cyberbullying is very much a real concern. I’ve read more and more schools are addressing the issue, which for the most part involves setting policies. Should they or could they do more even if such transgressions are made outside the school?
John: Ugh. Cyberbullying is perhaps the most intractable problem we’re currently facing. The schools on their own are at the practical limits of their ability to influence the problem. Sure, more schools could be more vigilant and more aggressive, more structured in their responses, and more tightly coordinated with local law enforcement. But, frankly, that’s not going to solve the problem.
My perspective is that cyberbullying in particular has to be prevented, because it can’t be cured or stopped in mid-stream. And preventing cyberbullying is a matter of community awareness, social responsibility, and social pressure.
Allow me to digress a little: Technology has the consequence of vesting more and more devastating power in the hands of an individual. We’re living that experience in the “adult world” today, whether we reflect on the Unibomber, 9/11 or Columbine High School. Technology empowers the individual. This empowerment isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it does bring a lot of risk. We can’t ignore it. Cyberbullying is in a lot of ways simply an on-line analog of this negative, aggressive, empowered behavior. An individual is empowered to do tremendous damage. How do you stop that? It’s almost an existentialist question. “If you want peace, work for justice (Pope Paul VI).
As a practical matter, we have to educate our kids on the horrible consequences of abusing their peers. It’s not a game.
FWW: Why do you suppose ISPs are slow to respond (if they respond at all) when asked to take down offensive material at the request of cyberbullied victims?
John: I think ISPs are in an untenable position legally and economically. They’re bound to be wrong no matter what they do, and they’re bound to get sued. So they often take the “Mr. Magoo” position of ignoring things for as long as possible, until they are absolutely assured that the action they’re about to take is unassailable. But by then,well, a lot of water is over the dam, and a lot of people are hurt.
Until we have sensible Internet policy, and the associated regulations, the ISPs won’t get the legally-derived protections they need to “act more responsibly”.
FWW: Do you have any suggestions for kids who have fallen victim to cyberbullies or for their parents who suspect this has happened to their child?
John: What I’m about to say may sound extremely provocative, but I think it’s a useful lens through which to view this problem. A victim of cyberbullying is like a victim of rape. Helpless, violated, shamed, exploited, and deeply wounded — what’s the remedy for that? For some people, confronting their abusers (when they can be identified) can be a step toward healing. But cyberbullying (for that matter, any really egregious peer-harassment) leaves a devastating wound, and it builds fear into a kid’s perspective – often permanently. It’s hard to come back out into the world after that kind of abuse, much less face your abuser.
That’s why we have to work as hard as we can to never let cyberbullying take root in our families and our communities.
This concludes the second installment. I’ll be posting the third and final one later this week. Until then, please spend some time to review and perhaps bookmark these resources:
- “I Wish I Could Disappear: A Victim of Cyberbullying
- Hiding Behind the Keyboard
- Stop Cyberbullying Now!
- Real-Life Stories
- Cyberbullying
- McGruff On Cyberbullying
[tags]cyberbullying[/tags]
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