'Ugliest girls' poll not unusual type of bullying for high school, says psychologist

A psychologist at Eastern Health says she wasn't surprised to hear about an online poll naming the 'ugliest girls' at a Torbay high school.

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"Unfortunately not," Janine Hubbard told the St. John's Morning Show Friday.

"These types of polls or this type of bullying certainly is fairly common, particularly amongst teenagers."

Hubbard, who counsels children and youth, said research shows that 43 per cent of teens aged 13 to 17 experienced some sort of cyber-bullying in the past year.

Lots of examples

"Gossip, exclusion...impersonation is one of the big ones we're seeing. Harassment, cyber-stalking, flaming and of course these polls and surveys that are happening on a very anonymous level." she said.

Teens think bullying is easier to get away with online, said Hubbard, "and about 80 per cent think it's easier to hide bullying from parents when it's done online rather than in person."

A Torbay student, Lynelle Cantwell, made international headlines this week when she confronted bullies,after she was named in an online poll of the 'ugliest girls' in grade 12 at Holy Trinity High.

Her Facebook response posted Dec. 1 had been shared more than 4,000 times within just a few days.

"My absolute compliments go out to Lynelle," said Hubbard. "But it's not that easy for everyone, particularly if it's just one individual being targeted, and we have seen some really tragic consequences of online bullying."

Those consequences, she said, range from "decreased self esteem right up to suicide."

Do not delete

Hubbard's advice to parents and educators — "First of all, making sure they know that they have done absolutely nothing at all to warrant it, to deserve it, that this is not their fault."

Open lines of communication are important, she said, and do not delete examples of online bullying.

"Hold on to it, take screen shots and make sure that it is being saved," she said. "That helps later on if we're following up on it, looking at charges, but also believe it or not it takes away some of the bully's power."  

She said parents should not over-react by taking away computers or cell phones, because that is one reason why teenagers hide bullying.

"And in this day and age, we need teens to learn how to communicate and cope through social media, not just withdrawing from it."