Totally agree if one is been bullied online, there is a delete button and an off button , but educating our young kids is the answer be them been bullied it bullying . Terrible thing to have to endure , been there myself on Facebook just reported and then blocked them

Aisling, it is not always the case that content can be deleted. Only the ‘moderator’ has this power on some sites. As a result very nasty vitriol can linger indefinitely on the internet about NAMED individuals posted by ANONYMOUS individuals. Since so many sites originate outside the state these comments are not subject to Irish libel laws as they would be if published in our media. Anonymity facilitates lies.
Young people are not always mature enough to handle this kind of bullying. It can be extremely distressing for people of all ages. I don’t always agree with that ‘sticks and stones…’saying. Sometimes words can be more lasting in hurtfulness than a few sticks and stones.

Mairéad, in that case the parents of the any young adult too immature to deal with certain sites to make sure that they don’t access them. There are plenty of ways for adults to restrict what their children can do online.

It’s not totally their fault but the issue of bullying falls on many shoulders; parents, education, the bullies and the web site. They can’t just say their site is only tool and wash their hands clean. They need to be more proactive and make more of an effort to make changes for the sake of cases like these which are happening more and more often. What these changes may be I don’t know but at least make the effort to do some research on how to implement some protection for the vulnerable. Rip Erin

Well said Mairead and Gabino.

There are places where even the best parents cannot stop there children from going.

We live in a world where any criminal is freely allowed to set up one of these websites.

And it is amazing how many people who jump to the defense of this social network, without knowing anything of the backgrounds of the individuals who own it.

with respect Gary, I think the issue is that the replies are posted anonymously, therefore ‘anything goes’. While I agree that the initial post is inviting responses, young, naive teenagers don’t expect (and shouldn’t have to cope with) the anonymous bile that they get on that site, generally.

JazzCav: I have just posted a similar comment. It’s never a simple explanation when someone commits suicide. I speak as both someone bereaved by suicide. I was also seriously emotionally and physically bullied in my teens and thoughts of suicide never crossed my mind.

I agree: the site should be moderated. I also think the media are behaving very irresponsibly in the reporting of the story. It’s just too simple to blame the site. I always thought the reasons for suicide are complex?

Totally disagree. I have reconnected with old friends who are scattered across the globe on Facebook. It is brilliant. The key is using your privacy settings properly.

Totally agree with your point Gerri….i was taking the point of view of the teenage user base of these sites..Its a super tool to use in safe hands of a mature user base but i fully understand and agree with your point.

Ah yes, Cents. I do agree that younger people seem not to use the privacy settings and leave themselves open to all sorts of problems. Parental control is needed, I think.

There IS potentially bullying in every school, club, workplace.
Bullying is a fact of life. It is no different online.
You just have to learn to deal with it, and avoid it happening.

Keep real FB and twitter identity for close friends only.

It is inevitable that if you open up your personal details and photos etc., to the world you can come up against trollers, spammers, hackers and bully’s. It is naive to think otherwise.

Schools do need to do more to educate kids on how to stay safe, but I’m afraid it will be hard to roll back on the recent social media trend of full transparency online like with facebook etc., as that is how they make their money through advertising, and kids don’t see the dangers until it happens to them.

I see what you are saying Marko.

However from 1st hand experience the undeniable fact is that there are schools, clubs, workplaces, that have little to no bullying present due to good management, regulation, supervision and strict anti bullying policies
and at the same time there are schools, clubs, workplaces where bulling is rampant due to bad management, regulation, supervision and bad/non existent/unenforced anti bulling policies.

I hope you understand that I am saying this because I was a similar age to Erin when I was severely physically,verbally and psychologically bullied by both teachers and pupils in a secondary school here in rural Ireland where bulling was rampant, (just to note that this was over a year after the corporal punishment ban)
however when I was moved (thank god) to a new school in the same town, within a half a mile of the previous one, the bulling immediately stopped, as there was an environment there where bulling was not tolerated by both teachers and students.

Same country?
Same town?
Same educational system?
Same laws?
Same year?
Classmates from the same families?
Why was there such a difference in the level of bullying in each school?

Harry, I was also bullied as a teen
- stalked, beaten, untrue gossip spread, graffiti sprayed calling me names, etc. Pretty awful stuff. However, I am of the opinion today that while this site should be moderated, it did not kill Erin

The journal are writing a story about a girl being bullied and thus are profitting from those reading it. Would you like to suggest they share the blame?

Or the stores selling foodstuffs and bottled water on the east coast of the USA do they share the blame for the hurricane they as are profiting from it?

There’s a difference from ‘encouraging’ and off handly ‘profiting from’

The Journal does profit from a story about a teenage suicide. And that’s not wrong. There’s a demand for information and opinions on the story and they’re meeting that demand. But I do think that they must accept that they have the responsibility of handling the story in an appropriate manner and delete ing inappropriate comments. And they do.

And you’re wrong. It is totally the fault of the bullies. There was a tool available and some people chose to use it to harm people, even though that was not its intended purpose. In the same way that if I buy a steak knife and stab somebody with it, it’s not the fault of the company who made the knife, it’s all me for being a terrible person.

The question that should be asked is.
That if I owned a website/social network/medium/establishment/club,
Where children or adults (for that matter) were freely allowed to be continuously bullied,
Where there are comments made IN RECORDED TEXT, that pushed children to the point of suicide.
Would I shut it down?
Yes I would shut it down instantly and hand the data over to the authorities.

And hand any revenues over to a suicide charity.

wrong thread here frank…..

I can understand why you say that Frank.
I have found time and time again in this country,
that the people who are supposed to be protecting the people from the bullies,
are the very ones who have tendency to bully people,
or they will intentionally, conveniently turn a blind eye to the acts of the bullies as they freely go to town on their victims.

If you think this is untrue.
Just watch how the guilty people who destroyed our country, are allowed to walk free and be handsomely rewarded for their crimes.