When at a school in Germany recently the only thing important enough to call a general staff meeting was Internet abuse/bullying.
Five kids expelled from the school Madame works in here in the last year. One for theft, one for literlly playing with fire and three for Internet abuses.
The reason it’s taken so seriously in school is that the victims of cyberbullying are reckoned to be four time more likely to commit suicide. Overall youth suicide rates are down in some countries though, notably those with high Internet use. I can produce no evidence for my views but I speculate that the social and supportive role of Internet communities has a positive effect that outweighs the negative effect of cyberbullying. On STW there’s usually mix: support from the hand ringers, home truths from the preceptive and mockery from the inept.
Don’t worry that we may have been responsible for our recent loss, the guy got positive posts about the stuff he did and I don’t remember him ever being involved in a barny on the chat forum – I rarely read or post on the bike bit, bikes just aren’t worth arguing about.