Another demented case of cyber-bullying

2 teenagers tricked a 15 year old in believing that she has an online boyfriend who later on committed suicide & they blamed the girl for this unreal death. They also created a bogus tribute page ‘RIP Jaydon Rothwell’ where 2000 people posted comments. They all were blaming this particular teenager. In fact she had been receiving threats till the police intervened & discovered that it was a bloody hoax. This happened in Britain. Had it been some other place like Pakistan, no one would ever get to know the real story.

These 2 girls had a row with the victim & they decided to create a fake account by the name of Jaydon Rothwell on FB.

However, when police checked the records of sudden deaths, it was found that no one ever existed by that name. We often hear about all kinds of cyber-bullying but this case is of course one of its kind. Those 2 girls even arranged a boy to meet that girl once. They even kissed each other & she really thought it was something special between the 2 of them. Then one day another girl scribbled a flirtatious wall on that fake Jaydon Rothwell page & naturally his gf dumped him. Very soon she got the news that Jaydon committed suicide as she dumped him. Those 2000 members were also pissed off. She received threatening calls & messages from people who believed it was true. Anyhow this hoax began in December & lasted for 3 months.

According to the bogus tribute page, Jaydon took a lethal cocktail of drink and drugs after his girlfriend accused him of being unfaithful.

The girl said: ‘I was grieving for someone who wasn’t real and felt I had been so gullible.’ Moreover her mother added: ‘This has been a threatening campaign against her just for their amusement and has wasted a lot of police time.’

Sergeant Paul Schofield, of Lancashire Police, said: ‘When all is said and done this is online bullying.

‘This could have been so much worse because there was a real possibility she could haves reacted to the news of his suicide. Social networking is a fantastic tool, but can be misused by a small percentage of people.’

It’s sickening to know that teenagers are hatching such ugly plots but this is human nature. Cyberbullying is nothing new. Although the net has been a great tool but some psychotic people will always abuse it. I believe on FB, it is still easier to protect yourself if you change the setting whereas on orkut, anyone could send you abusive scraps cause your scraps were open to all for a long time. Most of us left it, cause it was really annoying & some people just don’t have lives. They enjoy harassing people & the internet is the best place for them, cause they won’t ever be discovered particularly in Pakistan. Moreover, romance in real life can be so deceiving & the idea of one on FB is more of a joke.

15 year old bullied over parents divorce dies on rail tracks

Natasha MacBryde was described as a fun loving, model pupil who committed suicide under the wheels of trains after being bullied by a couple of lunatics. She was very close to her parents & was very upset when her parents separated.

There are snobby fellow pupils at Royal Grammar School Worcester & they teased Natasha about it. However, the spokesperson for the school said the staff was not aware about Natasha being bullied by students. They have ‘incredibly strong anti-bullying policy.’ I guess it shows how strong the anti-bullying policy is. A 15 year old is dead but these people only care about the damn image.

Natasha even messaged her elder brother James ‘I’ll miss you’ before her body was discovered on the tracks.

The bullying was definitely too much for this girl. She was already stressed. Her friends also posted messages on FB that she was being bullied by some rich kids.

A card left at the train station read: ‘You were an elegant and bright girl. I didn’t think it would have to end like this.

‘For the people who made you so down and sad, they didn’t even deserve to meet you.’

Very true! I guess when someone is down, only he/she knows how tough it is to think positive. People may say 101 things, but life can be very unfair. What these kids did to Natasha was psychological assault. It’s a very bad form of abuse. That’s why bullying of any kind results in so many deaths. Words can kill you. It’s an emotional abuse & you can’t get over it when you are plunge in gloom & doom. We have been covering such stories & it’s indeed saddening. But at the same time, we are well aware that we can't change the mindset of people. Some insensitive people will continue to judge & blame the victim for ending her life.

RIP Natasha!

Ragging & Bullying

‘Why do you think they targeted you?’

‘Because they’re dickheads? I don’t know. They’re like a pack. They have to make someone else feel like shit in order to feel good about themselves.’

Jodi Picoult

I saw Hostel (the Indian movie on ragging) & it’s definitely an eye opener. These students commit all sorts of crimes & very conveniently call it ragging. They choose specific students & then go on bullying them forever. On top of it, they have the audacity to say that we are helping them out; they won’t be able to survive in the world & we’re making them real men. And in this process, they even rape them.

Actually I want to talk about bullying & harassment basically, but it won’t be fair if I won’t talk about the movie. It’s not a must watch. The protagonist is the only guy who looks like a student; the rest of them are really too old & they seem more like street thugs or chauffeurs. And these bastards are after one boy; he even commits suicide in the end. In fact a teacher also supports these bullies & he’s so shameless that even makes out with a whore in front of his students.

I once read this study on bullies. They are basically mentally sick people. They might have suffered & so they make sure they hurt others. It makes them feel good. But I don’t think a victim would be interested in the history of someone who is mentally or physically harassing him. And I don’t even see any justification. If someone has tortured you, go after that person rather than bullying innocent people.

Bullying anyone anywhere is a serious felony, but unfortunately, these culprits get away with it. People who ought to be behind bars go on harassing anyone who is weaker than them. It’s pure mental torture & a person can commit suicide, but no one ever takes it seriously except the victims.

Cyber bullying is another way of harassing people on the net. In this one, the victims have no option but to ignore the bullies. I have never seen any site taking any action whatsoever against those who bully. Actually I have been a victim myself & it has been 6 years. Now I don’t care, cause you eventually grow. It has been so long that my family & friends only make fun of him. In fact I have also not heard anyone who has been cyber bullied for so long. Usually it lasts for a year. I guess as long as I’m on the net, this thing would continue.

The fact is people are harassed everywhere & there’s not much that can be done about it. While I was in the university, I often used to hear about these harassment cases in which teachers bullied their students. Even we had one such piece in our department. What makes these harassment cases far more dangerous is how people talk & spread rumors. Some students are of course sensitive but some students are just plain bitchy. When I was bothered by my professor, I also got this call from my senior that all the students (juniors & seniors) had this discussion & they think that I ought to leave the uni, cause the teacher cannot concentrate. Naturally I went to my Chairman the next day & everything was taken care, but while I was there, some students couldn’t get over it. It was a terrible experience for me but I had the support of 2 teachers.

I have never been able to understand why do people keep mum about such things. More than that, when someone informs, no action is taken against the culprits.

I think last year, a teenager was severely beaten up by 4 girls & they even made the video, & you could see that on Youtube. However, the clip was removed, but you can imagine the torment that poor girl must have been through. They used to bully her on a daily basis & then they even humiliated her on the net.

This thing happens everywhere but still we have people who ask the rotten question ‘why you of all people?’ I don’t think we can have all the answers, but this world would be a better place, if people become a little understanding & compassionate. They make matters even worse. We go to school, college & university to acquire knowledge but look at the irony we are bullied & humiliated there by a bunch of psychos who ought to be in mental asylums.

Which reminds me of this school in Pakistan where students were being raped & not just that, they were even forced to prostitute themselves. Teachers were involved. In fact 6 staff members were together in this heinous crime & this practice went on for 20 years till some ex students dared to speak up against this.

I have 2 questions: Can we actually ignore this? And does it give everyone the right to judge the victims? You may never know but you could know someone who is seriously into bullying people. You can’t really know whether someone is ever whom they seem to be.