Fighting Cyber Bullying: It's Personal, Not Physical
DETROIT (WWJ) - It's not physical. It's personal. That's the message in a new public service campaign created by high school students to fight cyber bullying. Project Anti-Bullying Founder Fabianna Pergolizzi tells WWJ that cyber bullying can lead to tragic consequences, and is difficult to fight.
"It's more personal, it's not physical, like we show in our Public Service Announcement," said Pergolizzi. "It's difficult to close down on the actual person who's doing it. They have access to doing it all day in all different kinds of forums and tablets and social media networking."
Pergolizzi said cyber bulling is a big problem across the country, and Michigan is no exception.
"We've noticed that there is a high prevalence of bullying in the Detroit area. There was a bully site that happened in Detroit a couple of months ago that took a really heavy hit, and in the media as well. And that's why we've been doing a series of make a difference events and campaigning in the area," said Pergolizzi.
Pergolizzi added that the Anti-Bullying project has gotten a lot of assistance in Michigan from local high school and college students who want to make a difference, especially from volunteers who attend Michigan State University.
Kristin Matysik is Marketing Director for "Submit The Documentary," which worked with Project Anti-Bully to produce the PSA. She said cyber bullying can actually be more damaging than physical bullying.
"Cyber bullying can be a thousand times worse," said Matysik. "The reason why is that it doesn't just end after the school day. It's 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It is relentless."
Project Anti-Bully works to educate parents, teachers, and students how to use the internet properly, with Prodigy settings and other safeguards so they can use the net as a fun tool and not something to be afraid of.
