On December 2, 2015, students and staff at the Albuquerque Job Corps Center participated in a life changing presentation from the New Mexico Attorney Generals’ office. Heather Sandoval, a specially-trained member of the Attorney General’s team presented on Cyber Bullying. Bullying was once an act limited to playgrounds or school hallways. The Internet has opened up a whole new world of socialization for young people through e-mail, web sites, instant messaging, chat rooms, blogs and text messages. The increased use of the Internet and prevalence of computers in schools and homes has transformed bullying into a new kind of threat for our students. It has given school “bullies” a new platform on which to intimidate and harass others. Cyber bullying is quickly becoming a challenging issue facing young people, staff and instructors.

During the presentation, everyone learned that cyber bullying can include:

• Sending cruel, vicious or threatening e-mails.
• Creating Web sites that have stories, pictures and jokes ridiculing others.
• Posting pictures of other students/kids online with derogatory phrases or questions attached to them.
• Using someone else’s e-mail to send vicious or incriminating e-mails to others.
• Using instant messaging tools to harass others.

A common assumption is that boys bully more than girls. Boys do engage in more physical bullying, but girls are often more active in cyber bullying. So with all this technology, how do our students stand a chance in protecting themselves?

Students can protect themselves from cyber bullying by:

• Being careful about to whom they give their email address and phone numbers.
• Never give their e-mail passwords to anyone, not even a close friend.
• Walk away from the computer if harassment starts, don’t begin a war of words over the computer.
• Keep in mind that online conversations can be reproduced and spread very easily. Virtually nothing online is private.

One of the main goals of this presentation was an effort to inform and equip the Center’s staff and students to be proficient in addressing the challenges related to the misuse of technology and interpersonal victimization among our youth.

In addition to cyber bullying, cyber safety was also discussed. The explosion of child predators using the Internet to target young victims has become a national crisis. A study shows one in seven children will be solicited for sex online in the next year. Students were told not to trust anyone on the Internet and to report any suspicious activities that make them feel uncomfortable.

Cyber safety and cyber bullying will continue to be hot topics of discussion at the Job Corps Center to ensure everyone remains safe at all times.