Griefers: Cyberbullies in games

"Cyberbullying" has been in the news a lot lately, but not yet its subset in online games. Bullies called "griefers" harass fellow players in multiplayer games. For an eye-opener, check out "Confessions of a Gr1epheR" at the Xbox site. In a recent overview on cyberbullying, USATODAY described an experience an 11-year-old had with a griefer: "A fifth-grader in the Los Angeles area, [Michael] stopped using his computer for six months after a brush with a griefer. After he beat another boy in an online game, several of the boy's friends threatened Michael in a chat room. 'If I find you, I will beat you up,' one message read. Frightened, Michael blocked their IM addresses but didn't tell his parents for two weeks." He told USATODAY it was the first time he'd been bullied. Microsoft, which markets multiplayer games for its Xbox console, offers 10 tips for dealing with griefers, also known as "snerts, cheese players, twinks, or just plain cyberbullies." They lurk in games as disparate as Halo 2, EverQuest, The Sims Online, SOCOM, and Star Wars Galaxies, Microsoft says. Of course, Net-based bullying involves girls every bit as much as boys. Instant-messaging and blogs are also venues for all kinds of psychological warfare, regardless of gender (for more, see my series, "The IM life of middle-schoolers," and "A mom writes: Trash talk in online games," and another mom's response). Also, Cyberbully.org has "A Parents' Guide to Cyberbullying."