Appendix+9+Schools+cyber-bully+concern

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 = Schools cyber-bully concern = 

CRAIG HOGGETT **|** January 14, 2012 12.01am 

The Federal Government yesterday launched The Easy Guide to Socialising Online, its second website designed to counter the rise in online harassment following its Cybersmart site. Leading children's psychologist Michael Carr-Greg said it was hard for researchers to put a number on how much cyber-bullying was going on. "The definition of cyberbullying is different for each child, so you have to have a really clear idea of what it is when you ask them," Dr Carr-Greg said. "I think it's an incredibly difficult area to research 60 to 90 per cent of the socialising kids do these days is digital. "A lot of kids are accessing Facebook underage and aren't willing to admit it to parents, let alone researchers." Tasmanian Children's Commissioner Aileen Ashford said there needed to be more work done to examine the scope and effects of cyberbullying. "Facebook is something that's hard to control, even though parents may be aware of it, it's about making sure you're on Facebook with them [children] so you can see what's happening," Ms Ashford said. "It's here to stay, it's not going to go away." The new website comes just days after a 14-year-old Melbourne girl took her own life after reportedly having her Facebook hacked and sending messages with her profile. Dr Carr-Greg said the government initiative was the "Rolls Royce" of guides to combat cyber-bullying. The Easy Guide website gives cybersafety information for 26 social networking sites, search engines and online games and how to report cyberbullying, abuse and inappropriate content. University of Tasmania social networking researcher Professor Paula Swatman said that changes in technology meant there methods of tackling safety online needed to change. "With social networking being so accessible now from smart phones, it's no longer enough to say the family computer should be in the family room and it's safe," Prof Swatman said. "What's necessary now is for people to talk to each other about cyber-safety."
 * THE extent of cyber-bullying in Tasmanian schools remains largely unknown despite the vast amount of time adolescents and even younger children spend on social networking sites.**

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