Basic HTML Version
1
FACEBOOK
‘FRENEMIES’//
Victim of social media
attack still questions why
In the spring of 2010, a group of Pinnacle High
School students created a group on Facebook
about junior Aubrey Stecher*. She discovered
it a week after its creation and found it
filled with cruel comments that insulted her
physical appearance and made violent threats
against her.
“I found out about the group because my
supposed ‘best friend’ told me about it and
acted as if she had nothing to do with it,”
Stecher says.
Stecher told the vice principal because
the group was still on the site days later.
Once notified of the situation, he and Stecher
immediately called her parents and, because
threats were made, the police. Shortly after,
the school administration questioned several
students to find out where the page originated.
“To this day, I have no clue why the group
was created. I question it a lot and wonder
about it. Looking back, the kids who were
involved must have been very insecure to have
done something like that,” Stecher says.
Stecher thinks that the best thing to do in a
situation like hers is to tell a trusted adult. She
advises other victims to be strong and use
kindness to diffuse the situation rather than
escalating it by fighting back.
– Hailee Pallas
2
SAFETY FROM
STEREOTYPES//
A teen’s past pushes him
to change the views of
his high school
Head spinning in confusion, feet pounding
against concrete, Steven Henderson* ran.
The cold air bit against his face as screams of
hatred followed behind him.
“Queer! Faggot!,” his seventh grade peers
screamed.
All on bikes, the number of boys grew to
almost 30. When Henderson neared his home,
the boys finally backed down and rode off.
Even after telling a counselor the following day,
the harassment continued.
“[I felt] I was disliked by many people
because I was being true to my feelings and
being honest with myself,” he says.
As an openly gay sophomore at Pinnacle
High School, Henderson believes that
bullies find lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-
gendered (LGBT) teens an “easy target.” In
fact, he sees anti-gay cyberbullying two to
three times a week. Henderson feels teens
today “have more access to technology than
ever before,” making it easier to torment
LGBT teens anonymously.
These experiences inspired Henderson to
create a group to help change the way PHS
students view their LGBT peers. He and his
friends consider their group a safe haven for
LGBT teens and hope to spread awareness
to their fellow students and the school’s
faculty.
– Alexandra Dersch
3
CYBER BULLIES
DEFEATED//
A 15-year-old’s experience
with this generation’s
new form of bullying
Of all the websites on the Internet,
one in particular affected Pinnacle
High School sophomore Justin
Adams’* life and self-esteem.
From early childhood to today, his passion
for the performing arts flourished into a life-
long aspiration. Unfortunately, this interest gave
people reason to put him down and stereotype
him. Through Formspring.com, Adams
was bullied without knowing who posted
the cruel comments. Fortunately, Adams’
optimistic attitude trampled all their attempts.
“If anything, it pushes me farther, knowing
that I may be famous and leave all of
these people in the dust,” Adams says.
Teenagers continued bullying him once
he identified himself as a homosexual.Yet,
with the support of family and friends, Adams
ignores the negative opinions and comments.
“What doesn’t kill you only makes
you stronger. By being pushed around,
I was forced to be stronger,” he says.
Living for 15 years under the stress
of bullying made Adams a stronger
individual and gave him the power to
ignore harsh comments. He encourages
other victims of bullying to
“cut off all means of contact with
people and websites that you’re being
bullied on.You aren’t being a coward.
You’re simply not fighting back.”
– Nikki Charnstrom
SPRING
2011
maskmatters.org
65
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of those involved.