Online Bullying and a Lesson on Anonymity

1

Yesterday, we received this email. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, and it won’t be the last. I’ve been on the front lines for ten years.   Screen Shot 2015-10-13 at 5.26.14 PM

What I decided to do this time was to share it on social media.

Within minutes, I got a reply that I did not expect from a mom of two who works for Monsanto.

It was kind and rang true as the words of a mom. I thought about her response, the civility of it and how we are probably both teaching our kids how to navigate in this world of online bullying. I wondered how she shared her work with her kids and thought about the lessons that I’ve shared with ours: to always be respectful, to never threaten anyone online and to let us know if bullying happens.

I shared the anonymous email with the kids.

Then I shared the anonymous email with my web team.

This morning, I woke up to an email in my inbox from my team.

Because the same person who had sent the anonymous email also made a hate-filled comment on the site earlier that day, my team was able to track down who made the comments, name, email address, location and job.

Scary.

It was an incredible example and lesson about “anonymity” and online bullying.

Nothing is anonymous on the internet.

So many moms are trying to protect their children.

And as we navigate the “he said” “she said” science of the GMO space, there are going to be moms standing on both sides of the aisle.

And while we may not agree on the GMO issue, my hunch is that as moms, there is probably a lot that we do agree on when it comes to bullying, cyberbullying, profanities and unconditional love.

I will continue to try to elevate the conversation, and one way that I know that I can do that is to thank Aimee, the mom at Monsanto.

Thank you for your kind words last night. Your kids obviously have an awesome mom.