Stop Cyberbullying!
There are many who are affected by Cyberbullying! I’ve even seen adults doing it, which is very disappointing! When it happens to our children, it’s completely unacceptable! Build-a-Bear has launched a new initiative to Stop Cyberbullying, which is designed to increase online safety awareness among children and parents. October is Stop Cyberbullying Month at Build-A-Bear Workshop.
What is cyberbullying you may ask? Cyberbullying is the use of digital technology as a weapon by one minor to hurt another minor and it is a growing problem. The Build-A-Bear Workshop online safety program is geared towards children and parents and has been developed in association with leading cyber safety expert Parry Aftab, executive director and founder of WiredSafety.org, the world’s largest cyber safety group that aims to increase online safety awareness by providing families with resources and guidelines.
Build-A-Bear Workshop wants to be part of the solution to stop cyberbullying and to help ensure that its online virtual world, buildabearville.com, is as safe as it can be. The Build-A-Bear Workshop company-wide Stop Cyberbullying program is comprised of several elements:
· Safety tips for kids (such as Stop, Block and Tell), as well as resources and recommendations for parents are provided online at Build-A-Bearville.
· WiredSafety Pledge — Citizens of buildabearville.com can take the pledge and receive a virtual safety sash for their avatars.
· During October Build-A-Bearville is featuring a meter in Town Square that counts the number of “citizens” that click on the Safety Pledge. When the meter is full, all citizens of the virtual world receive a unique Stop, Block and Tell move for their avatars.
I have a lot to say on this matter but will keep it short and sweet! Redneck Witch my partner and I were moderators, programers and anything else you can think of for a children’s virtual world. Kids are mean when left to their own devices. Many kids bully and are relentless at others. Many kids find solace in the internet because no one actually “knows” them. Parents need to watch their kids online. There are many ways to do this but the best is to open dialogue with them.
Kids constantly cry out for help with “I’d be better off dead”, “no one cares”, or the “I’m going to kill myself”. We tried to get the owners of said virtual world to take action but they are more interested in numbers and dollars. The will hunt down and find parets for money or a bad credit card but they will not do it when their very life is hanging in the balance.
I had a funny feeling she’d beat me to post here. lol Well said Winter. 🙂