By Anna Gustafson
Members of the 112th Police Precinct Community Council in Forest Hills hope their efforts to address cyber bullying with an essay contest will give young victims an outlet to discuss, and adults to gain insight into, an issue officials say has become a serious problem in the borough and throughout the country.
Council President Heidi Harrison Chain told her organization’s April 21 meeting that the council is sponsoring an essay contest for fourth- through 12th-grade students who live in or attend school in the 112th Precinct about preventing bullying on the Internet.
“We have in the past done essay contests on the theme of tolerance, and this year we wanted to do bullying,” Chain said. “I knew somebody whose child had been bullied, and I had lunch with a teacher from Queens who told me how often it goes on, so it really hit home.”
Cyberbullying has quickly gained international attention, especially in the wake of the suicide of a Massachusetts student, Phoebe Prince, who prosecutors said was driven to kill herself in January after being relentlessly harassed on the Internet and in school.
NYPD Assistant Chief Diana Pizzuti, commanding officer of Patrol Borough Queens North, who is helping Chain run the contest and will be one of the individuals judging the entries, said she believes the essays will provide more information to parents, who often do not even know their child is being victimized online because of the technological gap that can exist between adults and teenagers.
“Kids a lot of the time know more than we do about the Internet,” Pizzuti said.
Cyberbullying has become a pervasive problem as teenagers, and those even younger, spend more time on the Internet, whether on instant messaging or social network sites like Facebook, community council officials said.
Contest participants must write their essays in pen, include their contact information and grade, and turn them into the precinct by May 14. The 112th Precinct is at 68-40 Austin St. in Forest Hills. The contest is being sponsored by Maspeth Bank.
Council members also honored Queens District Attorney Richard Brown at their meeting last week, saluting him as an invaluable member of Forest Hills and the borough.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have such a good working relationship with the DA,” Pizzuti said.
Members of the community council bestowed an award upon Brown, whom they congratulated for reaching a milestone in Queens history when he broke the record for the most number of days served as the borough’s district attorney.
Brown, who was first elected to office in 1991, has spent more than 6,874 days on the job — topping the record set by Benjamin Downing in 1883.
“We keep a close eye on this precinct,” Brown told the more than 50 people at the community council’s meeting at their headquarters on Austin Street. “Your police officers are out there working very, very hard making arrests. We’ve got an extraordinary working relationship with them.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
