Experts warn of pitfalls teens face on social networking sites

By Rich Coleman

Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 | 2:06 a.m.

A photo or snippet of information posted to a social networking site such as Facebook can become a digital first-impression of a person, and for some young people, it’s not a good one, an expert on cyberbullying said.

To make his point, Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, flashed a series of photos publicly displayed on Facebook of teens drinking, doing drugs and engaging in other questionable behavior.

“It’d be nice if I sat down with any of these kids and had a chat with them and got a feel for their integrity and their character,” said Hinduja, keynote speaker at a forum on cyberbullying, sexting and social network privacy.

“But we live in a society where we don’t take the time to do that. What we do is Google you...and make a snap judgment about you,” Hinduja said.

The Anti-Defamation League and Henderson Libraries hosted The ABCs of Cyberbullying panel discussion on Wednesday at the Paseo Verde Library.

Following a recent controversy surrounding Green Valley High School students who posted disparaging comments about fellow students on a Burnbook website, cyberbullying has been a subject of concern for many parents.

“You hear about it a lot, but the last couple of weeks it’s been hitting home at Green Valley,” parent Gera Ashton said.

Ashton’s son, Taylor, is a student at Green Valley and was a member of the panel Wednesday night. He addressed some concerns the crowd raised regarding Burnbook.

“It was a big problem at Green Valley for about a week,” Taylor Ashton said. “People say the intent (of Burnbook) was to be good, but obviously anything that has to do with gossip is going to be negative.”

The website allowed students to find their school network and post anonymous comments about anyone. The website was taken down earlier this week and Green Valley High officials told students that anyone who came forward about their involvement with the site would be suspended instead of facing expulsion.

“The main important thing is that the administrators are really taking a stand,” Taylor Ashton said.

Hinduja said that the heart of the problem is that parents are “digital immigrants” and didn’t grow up with technology like today’s kids. Therefore, it’s more difficult for parents to be involved with their children’s digital lives.

“As adults, it’s like we’ve got one foot in one generation and one foot in another generation, and we’re just clawing and scraping and trying to stay abreast of these new developments,” Hinduja said. “It’s really rough, because we have so much on our plate as it is.”

Hinduja said society is too focused on “stranger danger,” or the danger associated with children talking to online predators. While that danger exists, Hinduja said, cyberbullying is much more rampant.

On the subject of sexting — sharing explicit photos — Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said kids who send or receive nude photos via cell phone run the risk of being branded a sexual predator.

“When these kids engage in sexting, they are violating the child pornography laws of our state,” Cortez Masto said. “When you’re criminally prosecuted for violating child pornography laws and convicted, you are tagged as a sex offender for the rest of your life...for something stupid you did as a young kid.”

She also said a new state law makes cyberbullying a criminal offense. Students who threaten “to cause bodily harm or death to a pupil or school employee by means of oral, written or electronic communication” can face a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor charge, depending on the circumstances.

Ashley Ciliberti said she is planning on creating a website to help teens who are cyberbullied and attended the meeting to get more information. She said it is important for kids to know there are strict consequences to cyberbullying.

“There are a lot more laws with this than I thought there were,” Ciliberti said. “Once these kids gets aware that you can get more than just suspended from school, they’re not going to do it. Everything I learned today, I think these kids should know.”