Monday, May 20, 2013

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Teens bullying on online "burn book"
Posted: 08.31.2012 at 4:07 AM
Mary Avila

Mary Avila anchors Action 4 Sunrise.

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You're too fat. You’re too ugly.

 

These are just some of the insults popping up on the web in so-called “burn book” accounts.

 

It’s a disturbing new trend that is taking bullying to a whole new level and it all stems from the movie Mean Girls.

 

In the flick, the popular girls in school write hurtful things about each other in a burn book and that concept has now gone viral.

 

Kids are hitting the web and creating social media accounts anonymously with the sole purpose to burn each other on the internet.

 

Most using the burn book title like one found on twitter with close to 15-thousand followers and twice as many hateful tweets.

 

Other sites are using school pride to set themselves apart but again openly welcoming the attacks.         

 

And not to be outdone, Facebook accounts like one named, the Baltimore Burning Book actually asks friends to, "send more pictures of people you don’t like or think deserve to get burnt".

 

Dr. Selia Servin-Eischen is a family psychologist who said her office has seen a spike in the number of cases and knows first hard the effects of this type of torment.

 

“Words do matter,” said Dr. Servin-Eischen. “They do make an impact on the psyche and their self esteem and how they perceive themselves and think others perceive them.”

 

But sadly schools can’t do much about this.

 

La Joya ISD Police Chief Raul Gonzalez told Action 4 that unfortunately their role is limited because the incidents are not happening on school grounds.

 

Dr. Servin-Eischen said the issue is mostly left on the responsibility of the parents.

 

“Monitor how much time your child is spending in the computer…why are they texting in the middle of night,” are just some of the questions the psychologist said parents should ask themselves.

 

But the main reason parents should be concerned said the doctor is because this trend isn’t only hurtful but illegal.

 

The Texas Attorney General's Office classifies this as a type of harassment and the penalties could far outweigh the laughs.

 

Twitter and Facebook both state on their sites that they try and act fast to shut down these sites.

 

Problem is that once one site is shutdown another one pops up in its place.

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