Lakeland Beating

There was an awful story in the newspaper a few weeks ago involving the beating of a high school cheerleader by some of her peers. The news article states that she was coaxed by friends to a girl's house, where she was beaten unconscious, and then beaten again once she woke up. This all supposedly happened because the victim was making negative comments about the girls on her MySpace page. I guess the attackers wanted to prove to the world how 'tough' they are by posting this video of the beating on YouTube.

Knowing that students have the capabilities of commiting such acts, as well as posting them on the internet for all to see, is frightening. Teaching students about cyberbullying is important, especially when something like this incident occurred not too long ago.
Along with this idea, we should be teaching students about the appropriate ways to talk & express their thoughts online. Social networking is a new concept for many teachers today, so they should take time investigating these sites, so they are able to see what their students are capable of doing with the internet at their fingertips. YouTube can be a great resource for teachers, but as you can see, anyone has access to the site, and can post any video they choose.
All in all, I believe it is imperative for teachers to guide their students when it comes to searching the internet. Also, teachers may want to let them know what is appropriate and inappropriate when it comes to sharing information online for the world to see.

Cheerleader, Other Girls Beat Up Teen Girl , Tape the Crime
http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=60657

*The video of the beating can be found on the website above. I didn't want to post something so graphic in my blog.