County Detectives Discuss Cyberbullying with Dennis Students

By RAY REBMANN
DENNISVILLE—Whether it occurs in the schoolyard or online, bullying has become a major issue faced by school children of all ages. Recently, Dennis Township School teamed up with the Cape May County Prosecutor’s office to present a program for students in grades 5-8.
Detectives Bryan Hamilton, Lakeisha Davis and Omar Perez made their annual Safety Net presentation, discussing topics ranging from cyberbullying to texting to the dangers of social media and how students need to be aware of Internet safety concerns. The detectives were introduced to the students by guidance counselor, Monica DiVito.
When Hamilton and Davis polled the students regarding how many of them had Facebook accounts, at least half of them raised their hands. Users must be at least 13 years old to have an account and many of those raising their hands did not meet the minimum age requirement.
According to the detectives, cyberbullying is a common issue starting in middle school and being involved in it as either a bully or a victim has serious consequences, even if it occurs off school property. The detectives and students discussed possible ways of responding to bullying, ranging from refusing to participate to reporting cyberbullying to a trusted adult, such as a parent or teacher.
Students were also warned that anything they post on social media, especially photos and video, can be downloaded, reposted or otherwise distributed worldwide in a matter of hours, even if the student thinks they deleted the original post.
“Anything you post exists on the web permanently,” warned the detectives.
Another common problem that has developed with the proliferation of Internet communications media is sexting, or texting inappropriate content in the form of photos or text to others, especially because of the legal ramifications of either posting or receiving such texts.
Though the topics may have been uncomfortable at times, the detectives explained that it was important to address them now so the students would have some ideas of how to deal with these issues.
“Use your heads,” Hamilton told to the 5th and 6th graders, “you’re getting to the age when you’re going to start seeing these things.”