Education — for both parents and students — is the key to
combating cyber-bullying and helping bridge the technological
gap between today's youths and adults, speech and cyber-bullying
experts said Friday at an Anti-Defamation League event in Palo
Alto. In the wake of several high-profile bullying cases, such
as the suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince in Massachusetts
following months of harassment, the league's central Pacific
region organized a seminar on the topic for about 50 Northern
California educators at the Oshman Family Jewish Community
Center. The one thing parents should do is set up a Facebook
page, said Justin Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying
Research Center. Parents need to learn how youths communicate on
the Web, he said. "There is a gap, but for engaged and involved
parents, technology creates a way to narrow that gap," Patchin
said in a panel discussion Friday afternoon. Students also need
to understand that their actions online have consequences,
panelists said. Recent research, t