After my morning at St. Francis I hopped a train to the Bronx where I joined Senator Klein to visit schools and discuss our cyberbullying bill. Speaking with students at three schools, we discussed how students will play a unique role in this legislation through the New York Cyberbully Census.
Our major focus was on how young people need to get involved in order to create change with cyberbullying. Adults who did not grow up with digital communication do not have the experience nor understanding of this issue the way young people do. I spoke with a criminal justice class of seniors and explained why young voices are key in pushing this legislation. It used to be that parents put the computer or TV in the living room so they could monitor what their children were exposed to. Today, with nearly half of elementary school students toting cell phones, kids have access to any media content at any time. When reality show casts treat each other like dirt but call each other friends, how is a child supposed to know that such behavior is not normal? Where are they finding positive behavioral models? Today's young adults are the ones who understand digital media, and therefore the strongest soldiers in this war.
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