By BRAD PERRY

SCHOOLS across the region have vowed to tighten education on cyber bullying following an incident in which derogatory comments

between two students on a social networking site resulted in harassment claims

recently.

District education director Brian Featherston said the Murray and Mallee education areas have implemented a zero tolerance statement on bullying in schools but disappointingly harassment continues

to occur.

“We have a regional statement that has been published, all our leaders have it and it is just a zero tolerance to bullying,” he said.

“We are probably the only region in the state that has a statement

on bullying and that includes

cyber bullying.”

Calls for students to come

forward and report bullying come after an incident where a student’s Facebook post about another teenager received significant responses from fellow

users of the site.

“If a student is going home linking on to Facebook and there are comments made, then that needs to come back to the significant person (an adult),” Mr Featherston said.

“What that means is we need to know about it before we can implement the strategy we have.

“Someone’s resilience can be diminished over time if people come at you and at you and that is what we need to be aware of.”

With Facebook banned at schools across the region, Mr Featherston said parents play an important role in detecting whether their child is being cyber bullied while using the internet at home.

“The hard thing about bullying is some of the kids think they are going to keep it to themselves because there is the possibility of retribution,”

he said.

“It is very important that parents are aware of what their children are doing at home on the computer.

“If it is done after hours we need to know about it.

“Take time to listen to what your child is saying because if they are making comments or reacting differently, then there could be something that they (parents) need to be aware of.”

The students’ school principal, who cannot be named due to the issue being reported to police, said students need to be made fully aware of the complications of bullying on social networking sites.

“A lot of students still don’t fully understand that there is no anonymity in sites such as Facebook,” he said.

“It is public and what is put on Facebook sites can be open to all other people.”

The principal agreed with Mr Featherston in saying parents must play a role in monitoring their children’s online actions at home.

“It’s up to families, parents and schools to continue educating students in things like Facebook

appropriateness,” he said.

“There are legal consequences if these sites are used

inappropriately.”

Admitting the school will “intensify” teaching about cyber bullying, the principal said any wrongdoing will attract a penalty.

“Our school chooses to act quickly and decisively if inappropriate content towards students is posted on Facebook,” he said.

“We have already run parent information evenings on cyber bullying on what it is and websites where parents can get information on cyber bullying.

“We are going to intensify teaching around what is cyber bullying and what the consequences are.”