Since the beginning of quarantine, reports show that instances of cyberbullying have gone up by 40%. Young people (from mid teens to 25) who are victims of cyberbullying are twice as likely to self harm and/or have suicidal behavior as adults. So what can students and parents do to prevent and handle cyberbullying?

How suicide affects the community  

In 2020, Carson Bride took his own life due to cyberbullying. Carson was a sophomore at Riverdale High School and had been bullied via two anonymous apps LMK and YOLO . Both were a part of snapchats “Snap Pack” and allowed other users to ask questions or submit statements anonymously. 

After Carson’s suicide his mother, Kristen Bride, filed a class action lawsuit against Snapchat, LMK, and YOLO. Both YOLO and LMK were suspended as Snapchat’s response during the lawsuit; the suspension went into effect in May of 2021. 

Kristen Bride also took an initiative with the Ore. government and testified to get House Bill 2631 also known as “Carson’s Law” passed. This law went into effect on July 1 of 2021. Carson’s Law requires school districts to notify parents/guardians when a student is either subjected to or committed an act of harassment, intimidation, or bullying, or act(s) of cyberbullying.

Across the U.S., a year before these events in 2019, eighth grader Lizzie Pettinato, who at the time attended a middle school in Penn. brought her experience with cyberbullying to the attention of the media in an article that went viral across the country.

“If I can speak up about it someone else can speak up about it” -Lizzie Pettinato

Three years later in 2022 Lizzie Pettinato has moved forward from the entirety of the situation however she continues to spread her message on how cyberbullying affects lives. We discussed how Pettinato voicing her situation can also help others in similar situations. Along with the fact that she was given a unique opportunity to share her story publicly and the surprise she exhibited when the story blew up. 

​​“That article went everywhere. I didn’t care.” Pettinato said, “I ended up getting backlash about it at school and I didnt care because it could help someone in the same situation”.

After downloading YOLO, Pettinato received dozens of hate messages towards her within minutes of it being posted. Eventually she ended up talking to her parents about it, leading her Mom to reach out to her school’s principal. She chose not to get the police involved. 

“I knew as an eighth grader it was people just being jerks and what not.” Pettinato said. She ended up meeting with someone who was a journalist for the area and they wrote an article. Within days of the article being published it went viral and got reposted by many other new sites.

Pettino still advocates that even though Yolo was removed there are hundreds of apps using the same anonymous idea. “I don’t understand why these apps are continuing to be created after one gets taken down” she said when asked to comment on the taking down of YOLO.  Pettino and others have argued that (anonymous apps) should not be allowed on minor’s phones. People underage should not be able to download these things off the app store no matter what.  “If you can speak up and save yourself and another person it’s the best feeling in the world,” Pettinato said.

What can you do?

If you are experiencing cyberbullying, speak up.  In our community we have a full, counseling department along with any faculty and staff. You can find all resources under the “Student Support” part of many schools’ websites. If you feel indanger of hurting yourself or others you should call 911. 

Districts such as West Linn-Wilsonville have procedures they can conduct to address claims and convict cyberbullies. In Oregon, it is required that schools address cyberbullying in a school policy. For West Linn-Wilsonville district the most recent update of the policy JFCF “Hazing, Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, Menacing, Cyberbullying, Teen Dating Violence and Domestic Violence – Student” was on Sept. 9, 2019. 

Many app stores simply ask the user to confirm that they are over a certain age. Even if your ID age is set to younger then the download requirement. With a quick click of a button the download will precede. However, the parent restrictions are a good temporary solution for protection against anonymous apps. You can find how to turn this on the app store websites. 

Cyberbullying is affecting lives

Advocating and using your voice to continually educate people in the community about the dangers of anonymous apps and cyberbullying is crucial to ensuring safety for everyone online.

To listen to the interview click here below.