Alabama Parents Concerned About Effects of Cyber Bullying

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By Tamika Bickham

Story Created: Apr 25, 2012 at 9:43 PM CDT

Story Updated: Apr 26, 2012 at 5:55 PM CDT

Cyber bullying is running rampant among children and with no cyber bullying law in the state, there may be less protection for victims than you think.

Bullying used to be limited to just the school bus or the lunch room, but now it's something that kids are taking home with them and they have to live with every hour of every day. The problem some parents are finding is that there are really no laws in Alabama that specifically deal with cyber bullying.

These are the faces of parents concerned for their child's life. Arlene Durham and Mike Kornosky say they are at their breaking point.

"We are worried that our son is going to get hurt," said Durham.

They say the reason is cyber bullying. Online threats and harrassment are haunting their child 24 hours per day seven days per week.

"He's scared. We have a 12-year-old child who's scared because he doesnt' know what's going to happen in his own school," said Durham, "We have too many kids committing suicides, too many kids bringing weapons to school."

Cyber bullying gained nationwide attention after the suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi and earlier this month 14-year-old Iowa boy, Kenneth Weishuhn, took his life. His family says he was the target of online threats after coming out to his friends and family as gay.

Where do the schools step in?

"Alabama does have a harrasment law that was passed in 2009 for anti-bullying on school property, buses, anywhere on school campus," said Ceceilia Mills, an education specialist with the Alabama Department of Education.

In Durham and Kornosky's case, it's happening between classmates, but NOT on school property and there's no cyber bullying laws in Alabama.

Deputy Chief Derrick Cunningham with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, says online threats can still fall under harrassment.

"Law enforcement can step in at any time," said Cunningham, "If they are writing notes, keep those notes and give it to an adult. You need to have some evidence too because you never know how far this may go."

For these concerned parents, they hope it stops here.

"The laws need to change. They need to protect the victims more than they are," said Durham.

 In 2009, the Student Harrassment Prevention Act was signed into law which required schools to develop policies to deal with harassment, including electronic harrassment, but again that doesn't include off campus behaviors.

Only seven states in the United States currently have laws that do require sanctions for cyber bullying off campus.

The Alabama Department of Education has created a website to educate teachers, students, and parents about bullying. You can find it here http://alex.state.al.us/stopbullying/.

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kassie said on Wednesday, Apr 25 at 10:12 PM

I tried the website and it doesn't work. Is there an error with it?

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