BY JORDAN PRESS, POSTMEDIA NEWS JUNE 4, 2012
 
 
OTTAWA - A federal law designed to crack down on cyberbullies would have little effect on preventing online harassment, or stop teens from bullying each other online, students told a Senate committee Monday.
Anti-bullying experts have previously told the Senate's human rights committee that enacting harsh punishments may do little to stop bullying online. Students from Calgary's Springbank Middle School on Monday said little to turn senators from that conclusion.
"Making a law about (cyberbullying) - I don't think it would do much," said student Mariel Calvo. "I don't think (teens) would listen."
The minority in favour of enacting some kind of law argued teens would change their behaviour over time. Student Molly Turner said an anti-cyberbullying law may not resolve the issue immediately, but could over time as students realize there are consequences for online harassment.
Each student talked about raising awareness about cyberbullying, and making students more comfortable talking to their parents about what's happening to them online.
"No matter how hard we try . . . bullying will always go on," said student Emilie Richards. "What we can do is make people bully-aware."
The eight students, who appeared via video conference from their classroom - at times being interrupted by school announcements and recess bells - became some of the youngest people to testify before a Senate committee in recent history.
They spoke about personal incidents where they had either been targeted by online bullies, or watched others hurt themselves physically over what was said and written about them online.
Anti-bullying groups, such as bullying.org, estimate that Canadian high schools experience 282,000 incidents of bullying per month. Some of those incidents have led to the suicides of teens. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among Canadian youth.
Students also spoke more about harassment taking place on social media website Tumblr, rather than Facebook or Twitter.
``I'm not sure there's a way to stop cyberbullying,'' said student Shelby Anderson. ``I don't think . . . a law would work. . . I still think kids will do it.''
While bullying traditionally has been verbal, physical or social abuse on the playground or in school, cyberbullying takes it into the digital realm, either through email, text messages or social media. Girls are more likely to be sexually harassed online, whereas boys are more likely to be bullied by name calling or being threatened.
A University of British Columbia study released in April found about 30 per cent of 17,000 Grades 8 to 12 students in Vancouver experienced or took part in cyberbullying. However, the study found that 95 per cent of what was labelled cyberbullying was intended as a joke.
The Senate's human rights committee will issue a final report this month and it may now not include a recommendation for a new cyberbullying law. Educational and awareness initiatives, though, may still be on the recommendation table.
``We heard again and again that laws might not help,'' said Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, who first proposed the cyberbullying study. ``What students are asking for is communication with their parents.''