GIRL POWER NOVEMBER 2013 | Page 16

In her poem she wrote “Another piece of me chiseled away by their cruel remarks and perceptions. I give up.” Mrs. Dix said in an article on CNN that she decided to publish it to help people understand the pain and suffering caused by bullying and abuse on social media sites. Rebecca Sedwick was to turn 13 this past month. After enduring over 10 months of stalking and haunting words such as “Kill yourself,” “nobody likes you,” Rebecca wrote I just can’t take it anymore and jumped to her death. After her death one of the girls wrote “Yes IK I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself, but IDGAF.” Wow, was my first thought. This is not just “mean girls,” this is the aggressive emotional abuse of a child and we must all stand against it. Many lives depend on us. We need to be motivated by loving and kindness not nastiness and hate. Why is it so hard for us to THINK before we text, type or speak? Do we like the drama have we become accustomed to it? Do we think oh, well that will never happen to me? In an article recently posted on nbcnews.com titled “Careful what you tweet: Police, schools tap social media to track behavior,” wrote beyond the feds, marketers and cops, there is a growing customer base for Internet-monitoring contractors who sift through personal details readily available on the Internet Recently, some schools began enlisting these services to follow students on social media and monitor for cyberbullying and eventually others will catch on. If you don’t really start challenging yourself, your family, your friends to THINK where will it lead you? To a courtroom, to losing a job, to losing friends? Don’t be a bystander or a victim. Tape it on your wall, wear a reminder to THINK before you speak, text or type. Ask yourself is it True/ Helpful/Inspiring/Necessary/Kind and when you can say yes to all those post and send away.