200,000 Teens Pledge to Stop Cyberbullying in Honor of Megan Meier.The Fastest-Growing Social Network Is Raising Awareness Raising awareness is a common phrase advocacy groups use to justify a particular event, brochure or even the entire organization. Raising awareness refers to alerting the general public that a certain issue exists and should be approached the way the group desires. of the Dangers of Cyberbullying NEW HOPE, Pa. -- myYearbook.com, the fastest growing social network in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , recently partnered with WiredSafety (home of StopCyberBullying.org), founded by Internet safety pioneer Parry Aftab Parry Aftab is a lawyer specializing in Internet privacy and security law, and is the Executive Director of WiredSafety.org, a volunteer organization dedicated to online safety. Aftab shut down her law practice in 2000 and now only takes a limited number of consulting cases a year. , in an effort to end abusive Tending to deceive; practicing abuse; prone to ill-treat by coarse, insulting words or harmful acts. Using ill treatment; injurious, improper, hurtful, offensive, reproachful. online behaviors. This 30-day awareness drive educates myYearbook members about the dangers of cyberbullying through the story of Megan Meier, a thirteen-year-old girl who killed herself after being harassed online. In the first 24 hours of launch, more than 100,000 myYearbook members have signed the Megan Pledge and agreed to report and take a stand against cyberbullying. StopCyberBullying.org's goal is to have 1 million people sign the pledge in 2008. "I am so grateful that myYearbook.com has gotten behind this important initiative," says Tina Meier, Megan's mom (1) (Messaging-Oriented Middleware) See messaging middleware. (2) (Microsoft Operations Manager) Software that monitors and captures system and application events throughout the network. . "While nothing can bring Megan back, knowing that 1 million young people will take a pledge against cyberbullying in her name gives me hope." By taking the pledge, myYearbook members agree to "Think Before They Click," and learn how to respond if they are the target of a cyberbully. Through partnering with WiredSafety.org (the world's largest cybersafety group, which runs StopCyberBullying.org), myYearbook hopes to educate teens to build a safer world online. It will guide them to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. "The Internet should not be used as a weapon. We need to teach kids to stand up for themselves and not be used by a cyberbully to torment others," says Parry Aftab, one of the leading experts worldwide on cyber-abuse issues and founder of StopCyberBullying.org and WiredSafety.org. "Cyberbullying is a horrible problem and for some reason this campaign, the Megan Pledge, reaches the kids in a way none others have. Thousands of teens have shared their own experiences at myYearbook's Megan Pledge page. Before myYearbook's help, we thought it would take us all year to get 1 million teens on board. But because of their enormous popularity, we may reach that number by the end of June!" "Being cyberbullied is one of the most painful experiences a teenager Teenager See also Adolescence. Ah, Wilderness! high-school senior has problems with girls and his father. [Am. Drama: O’Neill Ah, Wilderness! in Sobel, 15] Aldrich, Henry teenaged film character of the 1940s. [Am. can go through," states Catherine Cook, myYearbook's eighteen-year-old co-founder. "By telling our members about the Megan Pledge, we hope teens will realize just how serious, and even deadly, cyberbullying can be." The Megan Pledge myYearbook page can be found at http://www.myyearbook.com/meganpledge About myYearbook.com Founded by brother-and-sister teen entrepreneur entrepreneur (än'trəprənûr`) [Fr.,=one who undertakes], person who assumes the organization, management, and risks of a business enterprise. duo Dave and Catherine Cook, myYearbook.com is the third largest social network in the United States according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Hitwise, a competitive intelligence service. myYearbook has grown from a single high school to more than 5+ million US uniques and 1+ billion pageviews per month. The average myYearbook member visits the site 8 times per month and spends 30 minutes per visit, making myYearbook one of the most engaging social media destinations on the Internet. About WiredSafety.org Founded in 1995 and run entirely by thousands of unpaid volunteers, WiredSafety.org is the world's oldest and largest cybersafety group. It provides education, awareness, information and one-to-one help for consumers and guides the Internet industry on best practices. WiredSafety in its StopCyberbullying program works closely with Tina Meier, mother of thirteen year old cyberbullying and suicide victim, Megan Meier. The Megan Pledge was created by Teenangels from New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (French: Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of New York in Westchester County, 16 miles (26 km) from Grand Central Terminal in New York City and 2 miles north of the border with The Bronx. (Teenangels.org) in honor As a verb, to accept a bill of exchange, or to pay a note, check, or accepted bill, at maturity. To pay or to accept and pay, or, where a credit so engages, to purchase or discount a draft complying with the terms of the draft. of Megan Meier. |
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