Thank you all for replying
and for feeling that this is a good way to think and be...
It is just good to refresh our values every once in awhile and to feel this sites unity and mutual respect for one another..
LOVE YOU FOLKS!!!!

Be you, be true, and R-E-S-P-E-C-T each other and this place will always ROCK!!!!

Happy Father's Day hon!

I understand your situation.

Last year, I was on a site that shall remain nameless. This site had a chat room, and I frequently went on this chat room...made a couple good friends who I talked to weekly...

But there were these two girls who began heaping all kinds of abuse on me. The abuse stemmed from my habit of asking chicks for their asl. At first, I tried to ignore it, but they were on that chat room all the time, and anytime I entered the room, they would say terrible harsh things that completely weren't true, comments that would effectively turn everyone in the room against me, and soon three quarters of the room had turned on me, like some aggressive childhood playground, while the rest just stayed silent due to the discomfort they were probably feeling.

I tolerated this abuse for a number of months. Not sure why I kept going, I guess it was because every other chat room I'd been on was just a room for cyber sex to the point where I'd stay on one for 5 minutes without saying anything before getting uncomfortable and leaving. I suppose the reason I remained on this one for so long was because I had actually made a few friends on the site in question.

Anyway, it got to the point that I was so upset, I reported them. The belief was that it's a web site, not "real life," so you should be able to take all the abuse, slander, etc. Therefore the two women in question did not get banned, but both were forced to give a very insincere apology to me. By that time, the site was dead to me, and no longer able to enjoy it, I left.

I suppose I was trying to fill a void in staying, and I had effectively convinced myself that this form of bullying was different than the abuse I had tolerated during grade school. But the fact is that it was no different. Online bullying is a serious problem, and in this age of computers, it is a problem that needs to be cracked down on. Hurling slander at a person that is 10,000 miles away is what causes bullies to feel so secure that there victims cannot get retribution, and that is cowardly.

It was my introduction to online bullying, and I guess the moral of the story is that distance and a lack of a "face" aren't excuses to put down another person to bring oneself up.

I wonder if anyone has noticed that I have practically stopped posting in the forums? I got sick of the small gang of bullies that seem to take over every thread. On a slow day they make up something to put people down about, like spelling & grammer or even the content of people's profiles. Many people I enjoyed chatting with have dissapeared from this site recently & I wonder if this is the reason?

I noticed you were gone & a few others....some who've since come back....the boards have been positive & peaceful....wouldn't it be nice to keep it that way?

thanks iam4u....well said