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10 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 21, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Police and schools gang up on cyber-bullying By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Halton Regional Police are joining forces with local school boards to stamp out the emergence of cyber-bullying. At a meeting held late November, senior managers from Halton Police met with the directors of the Halton Catholic District School Board and the Halton District School Board to spread awareness of the potential problem before it becomes a more serious issue. At the meeting the directors were shown disturbing videos -- posted on the popular video sharing website YouTube -- of young people being viciously bullied. "There was an incident in Hamilton that was on YouTube and it showed some school girls who targeted another young girl from school and literally attacked her and were beating her quite severely," said Sgt. Peter Payne, Halton Police Public Affairs Officer. Bullying incidents such as this are taped with devices like videophones and then downloaded and shared online. "It is an emerging trend and we would be remiss if we didn't stay on top of this before it becomes a significant problem," said Payne. Also known as a fight club this new type of cyber-bullying was a hot topic of discussion during the meeting. "It's an informal gathering of youth that participate in the abusing of more vulnerable youth for sport and enjoyment," said Payne. "It's an extreme form of bullying." While some of the fights "It is an emerging trend and we would be remiss if we didn't stay on top of this before it becomes a significant problem." Sgt. Peter Payne, Halton Regional Police shown online appear to be consensual this did nothing to diminish the concern of the school board directors. "In one of the videos we were watching, there's a whole bunch of people surrounding these two youths who are hitting each other Summer's coming hot & heavy. Be cool, book early. 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Not available in all markets sk Sales Associate for details NE024H107 © 2007. Sears Canada Inc. and kicking each other," said Lou Piovesan, Director of the Halton Catholic District School Board. "Somebody is going to get injured or get a broken neck or something." Although unable to identify any Halton Catholic District School students in the videos it was brought to Piovesan's attention that at least one consensual fight video was shot in Halton region. "The police mentioned to us that one of them took place in someone's backyard in north Oakville," he said. Halton District School Board Director Wayne Joudrie was also shocked by the videos he was shown by police. "I was very concerned on a number of fronts. First of all for the safety of our students and secondly about the use of technology as a vehicle for communicating the potential for a fight club to occur," he said. Whether consensual or not Payne says such acts can easily become a police matter. "No one can consent to bodily harm. So if two people consent to a fight and one of them subsequently becomes injured in more than a minor way, like if a bone was broken or a severe injury was to occur, then the individual that caused that injury would be liable for a charge of assault." Joudrie said another problem that was indicated to him by police is the victimless attitude youth take towards fight clubs. "The kids in many cases saw this as not an illegal or dangerous event. They saw participants in these fight clubs as being willing participants and therefore they really didn't feel that anything wrong was happening," he said. Telling the school boards what to look for is the primary method Payne is using in hopes of stopping the trend before it becomes entrenched in Halton. "When you see kids gathering for what might have been, in days gone by, a consensual fight situation, those sorts of things now lead to the videotaping and the further degradation of those involved through the posting on an Internet site," he said. "That's why it is that teaching staff need to be vigilant and when they see incidents starting to develop to intervene as quickly as possible." Police are also approaching students about cyber-bullying and fight clubs. "We have our school liaison officers speaking to students on the issues and making sure that they are aware that we are aware. That way they're comfortable approaching us when they hear of incidents that may develop," said Payne. See Schools page 26 Use your Sears Card or Sears MasterCard and Collect Points On approved credit CORRECTION NOTICE Sony 42" LCD PJ & Zenith HTIB & Stand Package 10079167 / 10061651 / 10063586. 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