Communication in the teenage world has slowly shifted from the previous face-to-face interaction to communication through electronic social media, such as Facebook and texting. However, regular, positive conversations are not the only things that made their way into social media; bullying also followed. The name for bullying on social media has come to be known as cyberbullying. This can be defined as deliberate, repetitive, and hostile words or pictures directed at a person. Though it may not seem like the physical bullying that is evident in younger students, it is still as harmful.

As the old saying goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me;” some people believe that cyberbullying is not real and that the people who commit it are just joking. But it is a real issue, even at our school. Montgomery is trying to combat cyberbullies, however, through raising awareness. This year, a group of junior girls came together to form a committee to raise awareness of cyberbullying. The girls are Michelle Sweeney, Valerie Fleckenstein, Emily Clinton, and Claire Donnelly, and they have made it their goal to raise awareness through signing pledges, distributing bracelets, making posters, having weekly meetings with Ms. Fong, and planning a large assembly for the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.

Along with this committee, another student dedicated a film project to try to stop cyberbullying. Hayley Schaff’s video features a student walking alone through the hallways, all while other students place post it notes on her. The message behind the public service announcement is that if it does not look good in person, why do it online. This powerful video has since been recognized on a larger scale: Hayley’s video is currently showcasing before every film at the Roxy. Perfecting time too, because Lee Hirsh’s documentary, Bully, was released the same day that Hayley’s video premiered. A documentary that follows students through out Southern and Midwest America, it showcases that bullying is a real and serious threat to the youth in the United States today. Hayley’s video was also recognized in The Press Democrat, in one of Chris Smith’s columns.

The documentary raises a very big question, one that many people have asked: Why does bullying still continue? Though there is no one answer and no one solution, there are reasons, and more importantly, ways to prevent it and report it.

At Montgomery, Ms. Fong and the teachers take a very serious approach to bullying in any form. They encourage the students and parents to report it and not feel like they are “tattling” because in the end, it is all for the student’s safety. They have seen that students with confidence are less likely to be bullied, compared to the students who just become victims. The students with confidence should stand up for the students who are victimized. Now, this does not have to be confrontational, but rather non-exclusive behavior, such as stopping and talking with a lonely student. Safe School Ambassadors is a program run throughout Sonoma County schools that helps empower students to take this approach with their peers.

Though not every student ends up being bullied, enough students are affected by it to make it an issue. Ms. Fong wants to impose upon bullies that “We’re just all human beings and we need to be kind to one another,” while for the bullied students she wants them to know “It’s not your fault, you are an amazing person, and always hold your head high.”

            Bullying is a terrible thing, and it should be stopped; however, it  takes everyone’s involvement to put an end to it.