SNNEWS SHEPPARTON NEWS, TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013 5

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Cyberbully frightSHEPPARTON TEEN DELETES BLOG AFTER RECEIVING ABUSIVE MESSAGES

By Estelle Griepink

Telling her story: Cyberbullying victim Sarah. Picture: Simon Bingham

Shepparton teenager Sarahnever thought creating a blogabout her favourite bandswould leave her open to thescathing attacks of cyberbullies.

Last week, the 19-year-oldwas forced to delete her website,hosted on Tumblr, after severalcomments left her feelingworthless.

‘‘The messages came withinabout five minutes of eachother,’’ Sarah said.

‘‘They said I should killmyself, that I was going to growold alone because nobodycould ever put up with me, andthat I was an embarrassment tothe people I hang out with.

‘‘It made me question every-thing.’’

Sarah said she was well awareof cyberbullying, but being onits receiving end had come as asobering ‘‘wake-up call.’’

‘‘It made me think, ‘Wow,’’’she said.

‘‘Firstly, there’s some reallyfrightening people out thereand, secondly, I know it reallycan happen to anybody.’’

After receiving the messages,Sarah decided to delete herblog.

She said that had been anextra blow, because she had

enjoyed posting on her blog formore than a year and had metpeople with mutual intereststhrough it.

‘‘There’s pretty much no wayanyone can anonymouslycontact me now,’’ she said.

Sarah wanted to tell her storyin the hope it would help even

one other person strugglingwith cyberbullying.

‘‘What I’d say is you don’tdeserve it, it’s just not fair toanybody,’’ she said.

‘‘Too many lives have beentaken and too many peoplehave been hurt by this — it’sridiculous.’’

As difficult as it was, Sarahrecommended taking ascreenshot of derogatorycomments on messages beforedeleting them. She said anyevidence would help policetrack the perpetrators.

Sarah urged cyberbullies tothink about the real-lifeconsequences of their actionsonline.

‘‘If you get someone in afragile state of mind, anythingcan push them over the edge,’’she said.

‘‘I’m sure someone wouldn’tlike to have someone hurtingthemselves on their hands.

‘‘That would be a worsepunishment than any charge.’’

Shepparton police SergeantMatt Hunt urged anyone whoexperienced cyberbullying tospeak up and tell someone.

‘‘Some people may be appre-hensive or embarrassed aboutcoming forward, but I wouldencourage anybody who is thevictim of cyberbullying toreport it to police and, ifrequired, we will investigate thematter further,’’ he said.

‘‘If not we can certainlyadvise on processes for gettinghelp and ways to prevent it fromhappening again.’’● The News has agreed not topublish Sarah’s real name.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

● Question: How can we stop cyberbullying?

● Visit facebook.com/sheppartonnews and give us yourthoughts on this topic.

Driving message home: Shepparton police Leading Senior Constable Richard Ivory and TransportAccident Commission’s Melissa Kahraman with the ‘‘Wipe off 5’’ message at Riverside Plaza yesterday.

Picture: Julie Mercer

Safer driving method spelt outBy Riahn Smith

FIVE KILOMETRES PER HOUR COULD BE THE

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.

— SHEPPARTON POLICE’S RICHARD IVORY

Victoria’s latest road safetycampaign came to Sheppartonyesterday to encourage alldrivers to ‘‘Wipe off 5’’.

Giant, 3D letters at Kialla’sRiverside Plaza brought themessage to life, with peopleurged to sign their names onthe slogan to show theircommitment to road safety.

The ‘‘Wipe off 5’’ roadshowis touring regional Victoria tospread the Transport AccidentCommission’s message aboutlow-level speeding.

Shepparton police Highway

Patrol Leading SeniorConstable Richard Ivory saidthe ‘‘Wipe of 5’’ message wastargeted at all road users.

‘‘The main point of thecampaign is to reduce thenumber of accidents and theseverity of the collisions,’’ hesaid.

‘‘Five kilometres per hour

could be the differencebetween life and death.’’

Commission spokeswomanSarah Henderson said theroadshow team was pleasedwith Shepparton’s contribu-tion to the thousands ofnames scrawled on the letters.

‘‘We had a lot of peoplecome past and sign the letters

and we even had schoolgroups come in by bus to showtheir support,’’ she said.

‘‘The local businesses fromthe shopping plaza also cameover and got involved.’’

The commission is alsorunning a communitycompetition to find the mostcreative way to articulate theroad safety message.

Entrants are being asked toshow how they will ‘‘Wipe off5’’ in their daily lives by shar-ing their ideas on socialmedia.● For more information, visitwww.wipeoff5.com.au

Fined for spitting on ex-girlfriend

IN BRIEF

A Shepparton manhas been fined $400 forspitting on his ex-girlfriend.

Jesse Beckhurst, 19,of Numurkah Rd,pleaded guilty atShepparton Magis-trates’ Court yesterdayto unlawful assault.

Police prosecutorKim Talbot said thevictim was walking onShepparton’s Maude Stat 3 pm on January 29when the pair had achance meeting.

Sen Const Talbot saidBeckhurst spat in the

face of the victim.Then, 15 minutes lateroutside Target, he spatin a cup of softdrink and threw itover the victim, saying,‘‘How do you likethat?’’.

Lawyer Ian Michael-son said Beckhurst wasplaying senior footballat Rumbalara and wasremorseful.

‘‘It is a fine, not jail,’’Magistrate Paul Smithsaid.

‘‘It is just fairly anti-social behaviour and heshouldn’t do it.’’