Bullying, in all of its forms, has become a growing research interest in pediatrics and adolescent medicine because its impact can be measured, perhaps, better than before.

Kids who have been bullied under-report it to parents or teachers. Nobody likes a tattletale, for one thing, and reporting can lead to, yes, more bullying.

Besides, they often say they feel ashamed.

This is an unfashionable view but a sound one. Never get bothered about anything anyone says who is too cowardly to sign a comment or insult. To many kids, as this story says, anonymity suggests that the comment is more candid, more truthful.

Anonymity, or obscuring names,  feels prudent when potentially millions of people could read what someone wrote. However, there are limits to that rule.

One is when a comment goes beyond fair comment or criticism—a public figure, for instance, is not protected by law in the same way a private citizen is. They put themselves on the public stage, seeking approval, and must take the negative with the positive.

But kids, who may wish they were stars, are not ready for adult stardom-type, or worse, criticism. They should not be subjected to, or participate in, drive-by snarky or cruel comments.

One of the challenges parents face now is preparing their children to live in a drive-by opinion world.  As mentioned, one way to do that is to teach them that the only opinions which merit their attention are honest ones, offered by the speaker who will stand behind those words.

This kind of anonymity is cowardice of the lowest kind.

Cowards know nothing about truth. They are too busy hiding the truth about themselves.

Parents need to know about this website.

The New York Times

“It is the online version of the bathroom wall in school, the place to scrawl raw, anonymous gossip.

“Formspring.me, a relatively new social networking site, has become a magnet for comments, many of them nasty and sexual, among the Facebook generation.

“While Formspring is still under the radar of many parents and guidance counselors, over the last two months it has become an obsession for thousands of teenagers nationwide, a place to trade comments and questions like: Are you still friends with julia? Why wasn’t sam invited to lauren’s party? You’re not as hot as u think u are. Do you wear a d cup? You talk too much. You look stupid when you laugh.”

Source: New York Times, May 5, 2010