[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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