At a point in time during which someone can file tax returns over the Internet while flipping through the pages of “A Tale of Two Cities” on the muted screen of a Kindle or iPad, the city of Boston is urging students who are the victims of bullying or peer abuse over the World Wide Web to step away from the screen and do something that has become increasingly archaic: Make a phone call.
Alongside charges recently pressed against a group of teenagers from South Hadley who allegedly tormented 15-year-old Ireland native and fellow student Phoebe Prince to the point of her suicide, Boston has developed a hotline specifically devoted to sorting through “cyberbullying” with student victims and their parents.
Hotline Director Steven Belec told ABC News that the problem transcends age and can affect first-grade students and high school seniors. He added that parents are often unaware of the abuse that occurs through websites like Facebook and Twitter, and hopes that the phone service, which has received a consistent amount of calls since its inception, can help them address virtual torment.
While public service announcements that advertise telephone hotlines are not as culturally prevalent as they were at the tail end of dramatic episodes of “Boy Meets World” in the pre-Internet era, modern means of support through online message boards or chat rooms are too impersonal to make an impression on a struggling student. On the other hand, there is a chance that a student’s own principal or guidance counselor can sweep his or her problem under the rug and treat it as commonplace, as is what allegedly happened to Prince. When an anonymous voice over the phone can serve as a middle ground and offer support without intimidation, phone hotlines absolutely have a place for a student, today, who needs someone to talk to.
According to the National Crime Prevention Council, nearly half of all students said they have been bullied over the Internet this year. Maybe Boston’s hotline will help all of them, and it might help none of them. But the city has a responsibility to protect its students &-&- even if bullying or abuse between students happens beyond school walls or outside of operating hours. Cyber bullying is nothing new to this generation’s Internet-savvy student, so addressing the ensuing hardship should not, either, be a novel concept. If smoke signals can help curb the cyber bully trend, Boston should contact the nearest flint and steel distributor.
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