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School's out, bullies are not

Kids can't get away from bullies

May 29, 2012|by Sara Forhetz, KY3 News

HUMANSVILLE, Mo.-- There's no summer break for the online social bully. High schoolers may be out for the summer, but these bullies have gone viral.

Melissa Kolath is a mother of 5, and one of her daughters is experiencing cyberbullying.

"She has been bullied for the last few years," Kolath said.

"A group of girls made up a Facebook page called Humansville Unrevealed. They started calling
her names and bashing her.  It kind of takes her self esteem down a lot," she said.

Humansville isn't alone. Kolath says there are similar Facebook pages for Bolivar and Fordland. The sheriff's office told Kolath to contact Facebook, but Kolath said "Facebook pretty much hung up on (her)."  However, KY3 learned that Facebook has removed the page.

"It's hard for us parents to sit by and watch it happen," Kolath said.

Allicia Baum, Psy.D., is a school psychologist in Springfield. She says bullies can't always be stopped, but the key is how the child reacts.

"If you stop it soon enough, you can handle it inside your home with just helping your child deal with it," Baum said.

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"A lot of times you'll see changes in behavior. They may become more quiet or more withdrawn from the environment. They might stop enjoying things they previously enjoyed
doing, or all of a sudden become more secretive. You can also see depression and it can escalate from there," Baum said.

Dr. Baum says parents shouldn't live in denial that their child may be the bully. She says "get your child's password and monitor his or her page."

Currently, there is no federally based law against cyberbullying, but 14 out of 50 states' anti-bullying laws include cyberbullying.

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