Former Packers cheerleader takes on Facebook cyberbullying

I’m convinced that the internet gives everyone “muscles”…where people are willing to say any cruel or ignorant thing they please as long as they get to hide behind a computer screen. Online bullying allows people to express themselves in ways that they would never dare to in person…and it’s absolutely awful. Another repulsive thing about online bullying is the way networks like Facebook deal with the matter – very often they don’t take it seriously! That’s why I’m so glad that we have strong people like Kaitlyn Collins, former Green Bay Packers cheerleader, to stand up to the bullies, call them out and put out a mass call-to-action to end this. Watch Kaitlyn’s video below – it’s awesome! And here is the story from Yahoo! As amazing as the Internet is — it’s why we have this job, and why you’re reading this article, after all — every so often we’re reminded that sometimes all it does is give people the opportunity to be idiots on a worldwide scale. Kaitlyn Collins is a former Green Bay Packers cheerleader. She’s also a real live human being with thoughts and feelings and emotions, something that didn’t occur to commenters on the Chicago Bears Fan Facebook page. On Monday night, that page ran a photo of Collins with the caption “Like If You Agree The Packers Have The Worst Cheerleaders In The NFL!” The Bears fan page is a popular place, with 86,000-plus likes. You know the Bears-Packers rivalry runs deep, and thus, the comments got vicious in a hurry. In response, Collins made the following video, calling out not just the page but several commenters by name: That video, a silent spool of signs, is well worth watching. “Cyberbullying” may seem like a media concoction or an overreaction, but to the people who have suffered the words of others, it’s real and it’s painful to the point of real damage. Facebook apparently didn’t agree that the post met its definition of cyberbullying, and so did not take the post down. But as the comments on the post softened and even chastised the very idea of such a cheap shot, the Fan Page decided to take down the post on its own. “We did not see all the posts to take down the Cheerleader pic until today,” the administrators of the page wrote on Thursday afternoon. “We get hundreds of messages per day and are not always on here. The issue has been resolved. Please respect one another and do not bully on this page.” Congratulations to Ms. Collins, who was a college student at the time she cheered, for taking a brave stand. (Don’t think it’s so brave? Put your own picture up and ask the world to judge.) There’ll always be people who sling mud from behind screen names, but Collins did her team and her fanbase proud by standing up for herself.

About The Author

Patricia Colli, Editor of Beutiful Magazine, is a human rights activist, equality advocate, and promoter of health, acceptance and wellbeing. Having experienced disordered eating, unhealthy exercise patterns and poor body image, she is especially passionate about shedding light on eating disorders and the power of body acceptance.