Subject: strictly fyi: Cyber-Bullying; Hate-Crime Dialog;
Bullied and Injured; Australia
From: Gabi Clayton
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:08:35 -0800
To: news@safeschoolscoalition.org
Dear Safe Schools
Coalition Members and Friends:
(1) Internet companies under
fire in cyber-bullying cases
(2) Incident prompts hate-crime dialog
(3) Boy flees from bully into path of 4WD
(4) Rudd gets the rod over bullying comments

(1) Internet companies under fire in
cyber-bullying cases
by Patty Lee NY Daily News March 9, 2010
http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide/2010/03/09/2010-03-09_internet_companies_under_fire_in_cyberbullying_cases_google_execs_convicted_in_i.html
Google
faces legal recriminations in Italy after a court found the Internet
giant guilty of privacy violation due to a video posted by a user of
the search engine.
--
Internet companies are feeling the heat for cyber-bullying
and other online misbehaviors.
Three Google executives in Milan were convicted of violating
Italy’s privacy code over a bullying video posted on the search
platform, reports Reuters.
The video, which was first uploaded onto YouTube in 2006,
showed four high school boys taunting an autistic classmate.
The Google execs, David Drummond, Peter Fleischer and George
Reyes, took the video down, but were still sentenced to six-month
suspended jail terms, according to InformationWeek.
In a blog post, Matt Sucherman, Google’s VP and Deputy
General Counsel in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said he was “deeply
troubled” by the verdict.
“Common sense dictates that only the person who films and
uploads a video to a hosting platform could take the steps necessary to
protect the privacy and obtain the consent of the people they are
filming,” wrote Sucherman.
Many online activists agree.
Jeff Jarvis, writer of the BuzzMachine blog, said the Italian
court is essentially asking Web sites to review everything that users
post.
"The practical implication of that, of course, is that no one
will let anyone put anything online because the risk is too great,"
Jarvis wrote. "I wouldn't let you post anything here. My ISP (Internet
Service Provider) wouldn't let me post anything on its services. And
that kills the Internet."
But legal experts are not as quick to condemn the ruling.
"I actually think that this is probably not a watershed
moment because the Google convictions violate European law and
ultimately they will be overturned," John Morris, general counsel for
the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology, told
Reuters.
"Having said that, yes we are quite worried about the trend
in other countries to suggest Internet service providers and Web sites
should be the policemen of the Internet," Morris said.
This is not the first time an Internet company has come under
fire for the actions of its users.
Facebook was asked to be more accountable for its content
after a tribute page set up for two murdered children in Australia was
bombarded with obscenities and porn.
"To have these things happen to Facebook pages set up for the
sole purpose of helping these communities pay tribute to young lives
lost in the most horrible ways adds to the grief already being
experienced," Queensland Premier Ann Bligh wrote to Facebook founder
and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a letter released to the Australian media.
The popular social network responded by saying that any
reports of threats or hate would be quickly removed.
"Facebook is highly self-regulating and users can and do
report content that they find questionable or offensive," said
spokeswoman Debbie Frost.
Meanwhile, Google plans to appeal the decision by the Italian
Court.
“If that principle is swept aside and sites like Blogger,
YouTube and indeed every social network and any community bulletin
board, are held responsible for vetting every single piece of content
that is uploaded to them — every piece of text, every photo, every
file, every video — then the Web as we know it will cease to exist, and
many of the economic, social, political and technological benefits it
brings could disappear,” wrote Sucherman.

(2) Incident prompts hate-crime
dialog
by Rachel Beck Gazette-Times March 8, 2010
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_84257406-2a85-11df-9dd2-001cc4c03286.html
A small group gathered at the Oregon State University Pride
Center on Sunday evening to delve into an emotional, complex topic:
Hate crimes.
The discussion, led by Benton County District Attorney John
Haroldson, was organized by Steven Leider, director of LGBT
outreach and services at Oregon State University. Representatives
of the Pride Center, Basic Rights Oregon and PRIDE Corvallis
attended.
Leider said he was prompted to set up the discussion after
two
Corvallis teens were arrested for reportedly assaulting another
teen because of his sexual orientation.
Further investigation revealed the alleged victim lied about
the
circumstances.
The entire scenario got Leider thinking about Oregon’s hate
crime laws and how they are applied in Benton County.
Haroldson explained a hate crime is different from other
offenses because it is perpetuated against an individual based on
who that person is, not his or her conduct.
To qualify as a hate crime, an act must first meet the
definition of a crime, for example, assault or murder. If the
motive is based on a prejudice about the victim’s sexuality,
ethnicity, religion, etc., then it is a hate crime.
Haroldson fielded many questions, perhaps none more difficult
than the most simple: Why do people commit hate crimes?
“Perhaps one of the biggest drivers in this is human fear,”
Haroldson said. Some people have a “flight or fight” response to
things or concepts that scare them. Others may have a self-interest
in inciting fear.
Hate crimes typically elicit an emotional reaction, he said,
which can sometimes lead to unwarranted overreaction.
Society seems to have attention-seekers who commit
“self-inflicted hate crimes,” he said, which can result in real
victims being doubted or dismissed.
“That is a horrible consequence,” he said.
He said his office takes hate crimes very seriously, noting
that
in Benton County, the average prosecution, conviction and
incarceration rates for hate crimes are higher than for other
crimes.
He suggested any person or group who wanted to send a message
that hate crimes are not tolerated take actions such as attending
court appearances in hate crime cases or writing to lawmakers
signal an engaged citizenry.
But, Haroldson emphasized, simply sparking conversation is
important.
“If there is no dialogue, nothing’s happening,” he said.
Forming coalitions with law enforcement and other agencies
also
is imperative.
“How do we get to that table of justice? How do we get to
that
table of equality?” Haroldson asked.
“And if we get there, are we going to chose to step up and
sit
at that table?”

(3) Boy flees from bully into
path of 4WD
by Christine Kellett Brisbane Times March 3, 2010
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/boy-flees-from-bully-into-path-of-4wd-20100303-pgvl.html
An eight-year-old boy hit by a
four-wheel-drive outside a north Queensland school was reportedly
fleeing a bully who threatened to kill him, his mother says.
Bohlevale State School student Blair
Retallick is in Townsville Hospital’s intensive care unit after running
in front of a school bus and into the path of an oncoming vehicle
at Bushland Beach on Monday afternoon.
He suffered a fractured skull, bruised
brain and lacerated liver, which doctors fear may rupture, the Townsville Bulletin newspaper
reported.
His mother, Patricia, told the newspaper
that, at the time he was run over, he had been "running for his life"
from a bully who had threatened him on the school bus on his way home.
She said her son had been a constant
target for bullies at the school.
''Witnesses said this other boy was
screaming 'I'm going to kill you' and Blair was basically just running
for his life,'' Mrs Retallick said.
''It's a case of, 'Why, why would this
happen?' He's only eight years old and he minds his own business.''
The incident comes less than a week after
Premier Anna Bligh announced the creation of the Queensland Schools
Alliance Against Violence to tackle school bullying after a state
government report found schools were not
properly checking whether their anti-bullying programs worked and efforts to combat the problem
were poorly co-ordinated.
The Rigby report, commissioned last year,
said covert forms of bullying, such as deliberate exclusion and cyber
bullying, were seen as the most damaging of all to the mental health of
children.
The incident also follows the stabbing
death of Brisbane school student Elliott Fletcher, allegedly at the
hands of a 13-year-old schoolmate, although there has been no
suggestion that bullying was involved in that case, which is currently
before the courts.
The Retallick family told the Townsville Bulletin they complained
to the school about the bullying on the morning of Blair’s accident,
but were fobbed off.
They are now reportedly planning to move
to New South Wales to remove him from the torment.
''The bullying has been getting
progressively worse," Blair’s father Matthew Retallick said.
''It was going on for the majority of last
year as well.
''The upsetting part is the issue was
brought to the school yesterday morning before this happened. Patricia
spoke about the issue and it was dismissed ... nothing was done about
it and it ended up coming out this way.''
They told the newspaper they blamed the
school and the Hermit Park Bus Service for their son’s injuries - not
the driver of the four-wheel-drive.
''If the school had stopped the bullying
there, it wouldn't have continued on the bus,'' Mr Retallick said.
''If the bus driver had sorted it out on
the bus it wouldn't have spewed out the door of the bus and it wouldn't
have happened.''
In a statement to the newspaper, Education
Queensland's north Queensland region director Mike Ludwig said it was
too early to speculate on the cause of the accident but counselling had
been had offered to students and the Retallick family.

(4) Rudd gets the rod over
bullying comments
by ABC News March 5, 2010
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/05/2837860.htm
[Australia]
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's
comments on bullying in schools could encourage vigilante behaviour
among parents.
Mr Rudd says it is appropriate for the parents of
bullying victims to contact the families of bullies after they have
tried other measures with the school.
But child psychologists warn that could lead to the problem escalating
and Mr Abbott has told Channel Nine it is bad advice.
"I think Kevin Rudd has completely missed the point," he said.
"The
point is there should not be bullying in schools and the point is, the
teachers and the principal should make sure there is no culture of
bullying in schools.
"This idea that parents should resort to
vigilantism - that it's up to parents to sort out problems in the
playground - is just crackers."
But the Australian Government
Primary Principals Association agrees that parents should take some
responsibility for their children's behaviour at school.
"The PM has a perfect right to make these sort of statements. I agree
with him," the organisation's president Norm Hart said.
"Parents
should take responsibility for parenting. Schools are a part of their
community and the families that make them up are the greatest influence
on the schools.
"You can't say 'This is an issue for home and this is an issue for
school'."
But Mr Hart says it is better for parents to contact the school, rather
than each other, as a way to settle playground disputes.
"I
don't think [parents calling each other] does work because in the end,
if it is a problem that is happening at school that is where it has to
be fixed," he said.
"What you don't want happening is the problem exacerbating into a
family feud ... I am not sure it is a good strategy.
"I think the best possible strategy is to work with the school and
through the school."
Mr Hart says parents do not contact each other often, but it still
happens more than he would like.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has told Channel Nine she can
understand where the Prime Minister is coming from.
"What
he's saying I think is just every kind of dad's reaction - if your
child was being bullied, yeah, pick up the phone, have a respectful
conversation with the other parents to see if you can sort it out," she
said.
"The worst thing in the world would be for parents to be
bullying each other when they're trying to teach their kids [not to]
bully other kids at school."

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