Published 2011-11-29T18:54:00Z”/>

Sam Kelly

Chico State’s first cyberbullying webinar will take place Tuesday to provide education about the issue as well a place for the campus community to come together to confront cyberbullying.

Chico State’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Information Technology Support Services are sponsoring the event, which will be held in Colusa Hall on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

It is hoped that at least 100 people will be able to attend, Diversity Coordinator Tray Robinson said.

Cyberbullying has traditionally been thought of as a problem only associated with younger, teenage groups, but as recent tragedies have shown, cyberbullying is a critical issue that needs to be addressed on college campuses as well, Robinson said.

Cyberbullying is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones, according to stopcyberbullying.org.

“Sometimes we participate in activities where we don’t even know we are bullying people, but we are,” Robinson said. “It’s a matter of educating us on what it means, the ramifications of it and as educators ways we can combat that issue.”

Issues like cyberbullying illustrate the paradoxical nature of the Internet being something that is both wonderful and terrible at the same time, said Neil Campbell, a freshman sociology major.

“People need privacy, but the Internet has given people too much power,” he said. “Cyberbullying is a bad byproduct of a great thing.”

The anonymity of the Internet emboldens people to say things they might never say in person, but the problem is that it is just as damaging, said Christian Huckabee, a senior women’s studies and sociology double major.

“We need to think about teaching more about the consequences the power of the Internet can have,” she said. “It’s not regulated and we need to instill the right values in the youth to keep it from getting worse.”

The recent discussions of cyberbullying are indicative of the issue becoming more serious on college campuses, and the webinar is designed to show colleges what they must do, may do and should do when confronting the issue of cyberbullying, according to the PaperClip Communications website. PaperClip Communications is broadcasting the event over the Internet.

The Internet has given people a lot of different ways to interact with one another, and social media offers a great opportunity for people to connect, but that instant connection and exchange of information can make it easier while also less apparent that people are hurting someone, Robinson said.

“We are trying to really tackle the issue of violence on our campus more so because a lot of times you look at violence in the form of two people engaging in some sort of physical fight whereas it comes in so many different forms and shapes,” he said. “This is another opportunity to educate ourselves about violence on campus.”

<hr />

<strong>Sam Kelly can be reached at</strong>

<em>[email protected]</em>