Instagram guilt-tripping parents into letting young children open an account or risk being bullied

The Daily Telegraph

INSTAGRAM is guilt-tripping parents into letting children younger than 13 have their own accounts by claiming they will be bullied if they are not on the app.

The social media giant also argues that having a public account­ is “part of the fun”.

It has come under fire from cyber safety experts over its “parents’ guide to Instagram” which claims that kids who don’t have Instagram can “risk social marginalisation”.

Ross Bark and brother Darren from Best Enemies.

Best Enemies director Ross Bark, who runs cyber-safety courses in schools, said it was “ridiculous” to suggest children were going to experience “social marginalisation” purely for not being on the app.

He said that anyone under 18 on the app should have a private account and children under 13 “should definitely not” be on Instagram.

“Social marginalisation sounds like a term that has come out of a marketing manager’s mouth … it sounds like a young person will be on the fringes of society if they are not on Instagram which is a silly suggestion,” Mr Bark said.

Read the full article in The Daily Telegraph here

Cyber-trolls and online bullies: Call for bans amid spate of teenage suicides

The Daily Telegraph

CYBER-BULLIES would be banned from social media and slapped with an online­ version of an apprehended violence­ order as part of a radical plan to stop trolls.

Anti-bullying charities are using a powerful parliamentary inquiry to call for a criminalisation of trolling — including giving child cyber-bullies a social media order (SMO) that would ban them from contacting their victims and using sites such as Facebook and Instagram.

It comes after 14-year-old Amy “Dolly” Everett took her own life on January 3 after being targeted by bullies online.

Cyber-safety expert Ross Bark, who runs education courses across NSW through his company Best Enemies, agreed the creation of an “SMO” would be helpful.

“It would be useful to be able to ban offenders from Facebook, Instagram and social media but it would need to be coupled with education so they can actually learn the very real effect they are having on their victims,” Mr Bark said.

Read the full article in The Daily Telegraph here

Channel 7 Sunrise Interview – Sexting on the rise?

Ross Bark was recently on Channel Seven’s Sunrise discussing new details on young people and sexting.

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Bill to Stop Workplace Bullies – SMH Article

Victims of workplace bullying will be able to go to Fair Work Australia to seek an order preventing the offender from continuing to harass or intimidate.

Ross Bark said their workshops and the work of the foundation are designed to “prevent these horrible circumstances of bullying from happening to begin with rather than waiting for them to occur and picking up the pieces. That is too late – the damage is done, and we are saying enough is enough”.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/bill-to-stop-workplace-bullies-20130316-2g76e.html#ixzz2YR4yKAIQ

Channel Seven’s SUNRISE – How can we beat the Bullies?

Schools and the government have taken a stand against bullying.

What can be done to solve this issue? Ross Bark from Best Enemies Education and Australian RnB artist Feydee speak about the problem.

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