>>>
matters. performance without compromise.
>>>
back at 8:09 with troubling new cases of
cyber bullying
aimed at teenagers that have caught the attention of both parents and the
police
. we want to warn you that some of the language used in the attacks is graphic.
nbc
's
jeff rossen
has details.
jeff
, good morning to you.
>>
good morning, matt. graphic and disturbing. all the headlines, all the stories lately about
bullies
and suicides, like of course phoebe prince in massachusetts. and here we are again, it is still happening, and now it is getting even more vicious. this time, dozens of
girls
are attacked online and placed on the naughty list.
>>
they wrote that i was such a [ bleep ]. they put me on the wannabe whore list.
>>
they called me a mexican [ bleep ].
>>
you were victimized twice.
>>
i was really hurt by that because they did not only have to victimize me as a whore, they also brought in my background, my ethnicity, where i came from.
>>
o-m-g.
>>
three
friends
breaking their silence to send a message, they won't be pushed around by
bullies
anymore.
>>
flying monkeys
. consider carry,
abby
and renada are all good students. there is a page created by students to bash students. this website has a naughty list. what's that?
>>
it is a list of
girls
that are supposedly promiscuous.
>>
some of are you on that.
>>
me and
abby
were on the naughty list and i was on the wannabe naughty list.
>>
reporter: the cyber
bullies
went after dozens of
girls
at three different
high schools
, calling them out by name, slut, fat "expletive," whore, loose, "fat
girls
need loving, too." these
facebook
pages are often
anonymous
, the authors virtually untraceable. when you read that about yourself, that must have hurt.
>>
right. i mean it's hard in
high school
and every girl, especially
girls
, are trying to do the right thing and get through each day because it is hard. and to go home after school and see your name on a list like that is very, very embarrassing.
>>
reporter: enough to put a weaker girl possibly
over the edge
.
>>
any girl could say, i'm going to
kill myself
because of this. that's just really scary that a girl would have to go through that. it's really, really scary.
>>
reporter: and now we've learned of yet another new case at a
high school
in evanston,
illinois
just outside chicago. a
group
of students created a
facebook
page called "the evanston rats. same drill, same nasty messages.
>>
i had never seen anything like it at
high school
. i didn't know that that kind of thing was here.
>>
lot of people are taking it very seriously.
>>
reporter: what's so shocking is the timing here. in both houston and
illinois
, the
bullies
went on the attack. in the past few weeks. even after the tragic case of 15-year-old phoebe prince earlier this month. phoebe hanged herself at home in massachusetts after getting bullied in school. the so-called
mean girls
of
south hadley
high, along with two boys, have been charged. they've all pled not guilty.
>>
cyber bullying
is a horrific epidemic and with the recent suicide of phoebe prince, the fact that that was not a wake-up call for these kids tells me they think that their behavior doesn't matter.
>>
reporter: in houston, school officials called the victims in for counseling. now they're trying to hunt down the
bullies
. in this case, they suspect other
teenage girls
from school.
>>
we can't eliminate the problem but we can help. main thing is we don't want kids feeling helpless.
>>
in terms of being able to go to the
police
or something like that, you find out that not always what's written on
facebook
or myspace is illegal. it is mean but it is not illegal.
>>
reporter: so now the victims are fighting back. carly,
abby
and renada are strong but they worry, what happened when another girl isn't?
>>
girls
that have problems with their self-esteem could see this and this could be like the breaking point. and it is not fair.
>>
very brave of them to speak out. school officials in texas did a lot of right things here. they got the
police
involved immediately and called
facebook
to get that page taken down. they were successful in that.
facebook
is trying to regulate content, but as we've seen, matt, teenage
bullies
are often one step ahead of the law.
>>
jeff rossen
, thank you very much.
rachel simmons
is a bullying expert and author of "the curse of the good girl." rachel, good morning to you. carly,
abby
, renada brave, i applaud them. but for everyone of them that comes forward, there are several
girls
sitting there suffering in silence.
>>
the problem with
cyber bullying
, you can't escape it. it used to be you could go home at 3:00 and hide. now there is no escape.
>>
because so many of these sites are
anonymous
, you can go online if you're a teenager, you can say vicious, awful things, or write vicious, awful things about another student. go to school the next day, sit right next to that student and pretend you're their friend.
>>
that's right. and it is poisoning communities. you don't know who you're with, you don't know who to trust. i think kids are starting to fight back against that. that's what we're seeing. kids are using technology now for one of its best purposes which is activism. i think we need to support the
girls
who are fighting back.
>>
i like what you say also, these people, these young
girls
, are not being hurt by the names they're being called. they're being hurt by the destruction of relationships, that lack of trust you just talked about. and relationships to
teenage girls
and boys is everything.
>>
here's the real violence of goss tip aip and rumors. fy walked around
studio 1a
and spread
vicious rumors
, people would treat you differently, give you weird looks. they wouldn't want to sit with you. that's what's happening to kids and that's the real violence about this.
>>
the good news as we heard in
jeff
's piece, there are some websites cropping up to combat this. i guess my fear about that is, are those people as patient as the
bullies
are are? because bullying's been around for an awfully long time.
>>
it's true. but i think we do need to support the kids that are fighting back. obviously we don't want them to replicate the same unethical behavior, but if they are
taking charge
of their lives, we can't just say, oh, kids bully all the time. if they're doing something good it fight back, let's support them.
>>
there was some talk in the piece about contacting
police
and that
law enforcement
looks into this. i know your personal feeling is that it's best handled by schools and parents as opposed to bringing
police
in. why?
>>
because oddly, our job as parents and as teachers is to help raise kids and help them be good
citizens
. if we throw the book at kids every time they make a mistake, we're not doing our jobs as parents.
>>
but when the consequences are as severe as what happened to phoebe prince, aren't there sometimes where
law enforcement
needs to get involved.
>>
law enforcement
stepped in with phoebe prince because the parents and the schools failed to set limits on the individuals so the law had to come in and do it.
>>
that's one of the things, if we come up with messages and tips for parents, one is establish rules and establish consequences if those rules are broken.
>>
that's right. a lot of kids grow up in this
country
think technology is a right. parents need to communicate this is a privilege, this is something you earn because you're responsible, because you're mature, because you prove that you show the values of this family, not just online, but in
real life
. it's not just something you get. and if you don't use it ethically, there should be consequences.
>>
and you have to make sure that schools all across the
country
establish anti-bullying guidelines and then stick to those. rachel, thank you so much. appreciate it.
>>>
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