In a national iSAFE study of fourth to eight graders, 42 percent of bullying victims suffered the impact of cyberbullying through electronic devices such as cell phones and the internet. Cyberbullying is when a child is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.

In many instances, these inappropriate acts are coordinated before students enter the school buildings. Bullying causes nearly 160,000 students to be absent each day from school according to the National Education Association. For this feature, the critical questions to be asked are: What is a truancy initiative to keep students in school? How does this initiative of a video contest bring awareness to cyberbullying?

In line with October’s National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, the San Francisco District Attorney, George Gascón and community partners are launching the 3rd Annual “Bye Bye Bullying” video contest for San Francisco middle and high school students. This is a truancy initiative to keep students in school. For the contest, students are to create a 60 second video that demonstrates how young people can intervene when faced with cyberbullying under the theme of “Being Bully Free Starts with Me.”

The contest’s submission period began October 6 and ends November 10, 2014. Students of the winning videos will be honored at a December celebration and featured on the San Francisco District Attorney’s website. They will also receive prizes such gift cards, Jawbone Jambox Classic and a signed baseball from the San Francisco Giants.  According to Gascón, “Cyberbullying continues to be a serious problem with nearly 70 percent of young people reporting seeing frequent bullying online. This year, we are asking students to not only create thoughtful and innovative solutions to prevent cyberbullying, but to also consider their role in creating a bully free environment.”

A well-known childhood rhyme from the past was, “Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” In today’s world, words and pictures may actually harm students physically and psychologically if it is used in the form of cyberbullying. We must overcome this epidemic with the support of school, community and business partnerships and identify innovative ways to combat the issue. To view the 2013 winners of the bullying awareness contest, please go to the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1LtVKtGScFAWHzcDkTUiVQ

Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of seven books, “Education Questions to be Answered,” “Current Issues and Answers in Education,” “How to Eradicate Hazing,” “Professional Career Paths” “Your Answers to Education Questions,” “How to revitalize the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.” and “Completing the Dissertation: Tips, techniques and real-life experiences from Ph.D. graduates.” He is publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper.  Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator and district superintendent. He can be reached at [email protected]