The Australian Human Rights Commission has launched a national campaign to encourage young people to support their friends who are being cyber bullied. Entitled BackMeUp the central focus of the campaign is a video competition where teenagers are encouraged to make a short video about how they could help someone who is being cyber bullied.
Research on bullying has found the vast majority of bullying incidents occur in front of bystanders; the majority either feel powerless to act or actually encourage the bullying. Commission spokesperson Dr. Helen Szoke says the BackMeUp campaign is about getting bystanders to take action when they find someone is being cyber bullied.
Bystanders are crucial to dealing with cyber bullying. Taking positive action to support those who are being bullied leads to less social and mental health problems as well as an increased sense of safety at schools.
Check out the article:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-21/commission-tackles-cyber-bullying/4084608/?site=newenglandµsite=§ion=news
