Thaindian News

June 25, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Cyberbullying has been a serious concern these days; especially the children are the soft target of this cyberbullying problem. On Thursday, Dr. Phil McGraw, a former psychologist and now talks show host, took up the subject of cyberbullying on Capitol Hill.

McGraw said, “It has become out of control”. During a House Education subcommittee hearing, which examined the safety issues for children and teenagers using the social networking and other technology, Dr McGraw addressed the issue.

The cyberbullied children are 1.9 times more tempted to attempt suicide than the general people, McGraw informed the subcommittee.

McGraw stated, “At ‘The Dr. Phil Show’, tens of thousands of kids write asking for assistance on these issues. Among these kids, 45% report being bullied on the internet and 35% reported being threatened, which is a serious crisis.”

In the media and in the courts, the high-profile cases of cyberbullying have surfaced opening eyes of many parents.

Nine Massachusetts teenagers were found involved in a months-long campaign of bullying thus leading to the suicide of a 15-year-old girl. The case was reported in last March.

McGraw said, the kids often do not discuss such issues with their parents as they feel shy and embarrassed to disclose them.

The Dr added, “We need to provide tools to the parents, educators and administrators to prevent all these and intervene if happens. We need to create awareness among the teachers too so that they can tackle this problem.”

He thinks that most of the parents are unaware of their child’s virtual identity. He wants them to identify the people with whom they are chatting or having friendship via net.