Why are you so obtuse?
You will never stop people from doing what they do. It's human nature. It still boils down to HOW YOU CHOOSE TO DEAL WITH IT.
Think about that for a minute before you reply with your usual knee jerk reactions.
The person being bullied, picked on, gossiped about, harrassed on: (the school bus/playground/cafeteria) (Facebook/"Online Forums"/MySpace/Twitter/Instagram/LinkdIn/INTERWEBZ) OR (at the office water cooler/coffee machine/in the elevator/in the lunchroom) NEEDS TO IGNORE IT! What do you care if they are talking about you or spreading lies or gossip?
What does a child care if someone is making up crap about them? The parents should be teaching those kids how to handle this type of thing. It's been around since the beginning of time. If the parents are concerned about someone causing harm to their child, THE PARENTS should go to the Administrators. If that doesn't yield proper results, then the PARENTS should seek additional assistance (maybe filing a police report, or seeking legal assistance, etc).
My son was getting harrassed an picked on by some kid in middle school and finally, he'd had enough. He reared back and slid his luncroom tray across the table at the kid and then got into a scuffle with the kid. Because my kid "snapped" and threw the first punch, so to speak - he was suspended for 3 days. I was basically okay with it, because he had been getting grief from this kid for a few weeks, and nothing I'd suggested worked.(HE wanted to handle it himself, and I wasn't going to step in until he asked me to, because it was nit-picky crap)
He'd reported it to the lunchroom staff, he'd told/warned the kid to stop. I think he'd reported it to a teacher, but I can't recall now. The point is - he finally handled it by force. Yes, he got suspended - and probably shouldn't have. BUT!! Guess what? After he returned to school he made a comment to me that "some people are avoiding me like I'm crazy or something". I said "GOOD! That means they'll leave you alone now. People/bullies don't want to deal with crazy".
Your role as a parent is to worry about your child and their well-being. Show them how to stand up for themselves. Show them how to have good self esteem. Bullies will always take advantage of the kids who have no confidence. That's a given - as that's how they work. This is not new information - it's (some) human nature.
MY point is that bullying today via social media is not that different than any bullying since the beginning of time. YOU can change the way you reply or respond to it. Ignore it. DE-activate the FB account. Shut off the computer. OR if the bullying continues - report them. Report to the school, the parents. And hey - if all else fails and the bully needs to be punched in the nose - punch them in the nose. They will quit bullying.
