[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 152 (Friday, December 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6767-S6768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO ADDRESS CYBER BULLYING
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I want to take a moment to share with the
Senate one successful story coming out of Vermont.
[[Page S6768]]
In this digital age, our children have the opportunity to
communicate, to collaborate, and to connect at all times over their
cell phones, tablets, social media pages and blogs. But with this
limitless connectivity also comes a responsibility to make use of these
technologies maturely and respectfully. In Vermont, students and their
school community have boldly fought back against cyber bullying. I want
to praise their efforts and call the Senate's attention to their
achievement.
Cyber bullying has become one of the most troubling threats to the
safety and security of our children in this time of unprecedented
digital access. Last week, students at Rutland High School were
targeted online, as negative posts on an anonymous school news app were
discovered. Together, students and school leaders gathered to address
this negativity and to recommit themselves to building a more positive
school environment. These students organized a ``Positive Post-It''
event to change the climate and then called on one another to delete
the application.
Rutland High students went further still and banded together to issue
a petition to persuade Apple to take down the app so that other
students would not be victimized by anonymous posts. After the
gathering, Rutland High School principal Bill Olsen said on Monday
``kids left school on that day feeling very good about how they could
help each other overcome such adversity.'' Governor Peter Shumlin has
also touted their accomplishment.
According to the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, more
than 15 percent of high school students were electronically bullied in
the past year. Rutland High School has gained international attention,
as a wonderful example of how students have acted bravely to stand up
against this trend and to hold one another accountable for a safe
school space. Other States are following this trend as well. In
Michigan, school leaders have also recently spoken out against the use
of apps that promote anonymous, negative online behavior. The petition
to remove the app has been successful, and Apple has since removed it
from its online store.
The leadership that these students have displayed is admirable,
heroic, and an example to others. In recognition of their efforts, I
ask unanimous consent to have an article from The Rutland Herald
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Rutland Herald, Dec. 6, 2014]
RHS Rallies Against Controversial App
(By Erin Mansfield)
Students and faculty at Rutland High School organized this
week against a controversial iPhone app they say is being
used to bully students via their cellphones.
Principal Bill Olsen said Friday he found out about the
After School app Wednesday morning, when many students ended
up crying in their guidance counselors' offices because of
the things other students wrote about them on the Internet.
An app, short for application, is a computer program often
used on smartphones and mobile devices that can access the
Internet. After School, according to the iTunes Store, works
as a virtual bulletin board for posting ``funny, anonymous
school news for confessions and compliments.''
But Olsen said most of the things being posted are harming
students' self-esteem at school, so the administration
immediately sent out a letter to parents and began asking
student leaders to speak out against the app.
Catherine DiPalma, a senior, said anyone can download the
app for free through iTunes. Students log in using a Facebook
account, confirm the school they attend, and begin posting
anonymously.
A cheerleader, DiPalma said she and about 25 other students
involved in clubs or sports teams went on the school's video
announcements Thursday morning to ask their peers to delete
the app from their phones and support the kids who had their
feelings hurt.
``Nobody wants to walk down the hall and see their friends
crying,'' she said. ``Even if you're not friends with
someone, we said `stand up.' ''
Olsen and the student leaders then asked kids to respond by
writing positive messages on colorful Post-It notes and
sticking them on windows in many of the school's hallways.
Some of the messages on the windows Friday were directed
specifically to cheer up kids who had been criticized on the
app, and some were compliments for their favorite teachers.
Others told their peers to ``please go gay for me'' and
``nice butt.''
``I thought it was awesome,'' said Logan Boyle, another
senior who spoke with the group on the morning announcements.
``I think it's cool that you can walk down the hall and see
all the awesome things people say rather than all the nasty
things people say,'' she said.
``A lot of us had the app, and we were just reading it,''
she said. ``We told everyone that just by having the app and
reading it, you're giving power to the people who are saying
the mean things.''
Kate Herling, a RHS guidance counselor who advises a
student group against cyber bullying, said bringing student
leaders into their advocacy was effective.
``Kids were supporting one another,'' Herling said. ``Now
we walk down the hall and see people smiling because maybe
they found their name.''
She said, ``I felt that everyone kind of came together to
really stop this and make a positive thing about such a nasty
thing that really happened.''
Olsen said he and Superintendent Mary Moran have sent out
letters to get the state's Agency of Education and the
Vermont Superintendents Association to organize around the
issue.
They said they want local schools to gather together and
pressure the app's creator to delete the software, and get
Apple to take down the app from the iTunes Store. As of
Friday, the store labeled the app for ``frequent/intense
mature/suggestive themes,'' and for ages 17 and up.
Rebecca Holcombe, the state's secretary of education, said
Rutland City Public Schools ``is quite rightly going after
it.'' She said the Agency of Education just received the
district's letter and will address the concern next week.
``There is free speech,'' Holcombe said. ``There's also
bullying, and bullying is not protected speech in school.
Parents send us their children as a public trust, and one of
those things is protecting them from bullying and
harassment.''
``We do honestly find it extremely troubling, and we do
think it shows extremely poor judgment on the part of the
company,'' she said.
A Michigan student's petition against the app says
Massachusetts-based Ambient Corporation is the developer of
After School. But a company representative said Friday they
have nothing to do with the app.
The iTunes Store says ONE, Inc. holds the copyright, but
that company was unable to be reached for comment.
The After School app website says: ``We believe in free
speech and the ability for people to express themselves. If
you find the majority of the content too offensive, consider
using your phone to instead look at cat pictures or browse a
less cutting-edge social network like Facebook.''
Olsen pointed to news articles from Michigan and Minnesota,
where he said schools are warning parents about the effects
of the After School app on their children and encouraging
them to remove it from their smartphones.
``Apps like this and companies that make them really should
be held accountable,'' Olsen said. ``The kids set an example
for the adults (on Thursday). We should do the same thing and
try to fight this.''
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