November 30, 2003
Text message torment ends in tragedy
Helen Algar believes her teenage son died after being on the receiving end of a silent but potent form of bullying - text messaging. She talked to Sue Bramwell from the Sunday Star Times.
"Some time that night he made and received a number of text messages that caused him to leave the house and go to the top of that cliff. My son is dead and those text messages were a significant factor in that. Text messaging can be a potent weapon."
Bullying by SMS is a serious concern and some countries, like the UK, have officially taken measures to put an end to such behaviour. The Department of Education and Skills issued a guidance on bullying in school last September, recommending that students caught bullying be expelled.
A previous trajic incidence occured in Norway in 2001, where a young man committed suicide after receiving a threatening SMS saying: "You will die this year. We know where you live". He was suffering from a depression.
For more incidents reported around the world on bullying by SMS, check out this category in Textually.org
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