School See Fights Starting on Facebook

Years ago, teachers were on the look out for notes being passed around the classroom. These days, bullying and gossip have gone cyber. Last school year, a fued involving two girls from Seneca Valley High School started on facebook and, through comments, involved other students and even their mothers. Within a weeks time, students were coming into Germantown from Prince George's County and the District of Columbia to fight at bus stops and private homes. 

Germantown police officer Steven Smugereski says incidents that were once easily resolved in a short amount of time are blown out of proportion and spread faster than ever before, through Facebook.

"With facebook, stuff is dragged out for maybe two or three weeks … It gets into a cycle because you have everybody in everybody else's business," Smugereski said.

According to Smugereski, many students, particularly those involved in cyberbullying, have a separate profile under a pseudonym or nickname. They use this profile to bully others while still maintaining a sense of anonymity. 

In an effort to combat this Facebook fighting and bullying, Kingsview Middle School formed an anti-bullying taskforce beginning this school year. The group meets monthly to find ways of preventing and combating bullying within the school and online. 

Susan Burkinshaw, coordinator for The Montgomery County Council of Parents-Teacher Associations for the Northwest cluster, said the taskforce was created because the community felt bullying incidents weren't being addressed. One of the group's goals is to encourage parents to file a Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation Reporting Form to Montgomery County Public Schools so that the incidents can be investigated and MCPS can ensure the issue is being handled correctly. 

In addition, Burkinshaw said the group will be working to educate children on the correct uses of social media. In December, anti-bullying activist Jodee Blanco will be coming to speak to children at Kingsview. The event will be open to other middle schools and include a separate portion that will be open to the public. Blanco will discuss the correct uses of social media and the dangers of bullying. 

"The kids that are being bullied and the kids that are bullies are two sides of the same coin, they are both in pain," Burkinshaw said.