I meet some amazing people in the virtual world of Second Life and one such lady is an inspiration to us all. Pamala Clift (Pamala being her pen name as well as her on-line name) is a real life Researcher, Educator, Author, Business Consultant and Public Speaker. I met Pamala at the Roadside Philosophers Group that she runs in SL, probably one of the biggest groups in the virtual environment where everyone can discuss openly any topics under the sun; Everyone is allowed to express their opinions and they do so within a well controlled, but freedom of speech style virtual meeting place once a fortnight. However, sometimes the internet can be a dangerous place, especially for vulnerable young people who haven’t got the experience or the ability to fend off on-line bullies. Pamala feels very strongly about doing all she can to educate and assist people to deter the trolls who thoughtlessly cause so much grief and harm to children and young adults. Below is a copy of an article taken from Pamala’s website ‘Virtual Handhold, LLC Human/Computer Interface Psychology’ where she explains how she wants to tackle the bullying and help as many people as she can: “Insight Blog Cyber Bullying Pamala Clift: Posted on Thursday, September 12, 2013 11:10 AM What is one of the first things to hit me on the news station for my new Florida County? A 12 year old girl committed suicide because of cyber bullying! I am outraged that emotional trauma is filtering down to even younger ones faster than I can get the words or construct out for dealing with online emotional engagement. I had to call both the sheriff's department and the school district to see if I can offer my services. We have handed the world over to our youth without any tools to deal with their emotional growth for this human/computer interface. We adults are the ones at fault. This reminds me of my dad throwing me into the deep side of the pool and telling me to swim, but it is even worse. When my dad threw me into the deep side of the pool he stood there laughing and watching me struggle. When we hand our kids total freedom to computers, phones and social media we are throwing them in the deep side of the pool with no one to watch them. We are leaving them alone to sink or swim. They have no tools to deal with what is told them, nor the emotional maturity to contain their feelings that NOW (does not)= Forever. Text is a very powerful method to get into the psyche of the mind. You will notice that many videos trying to sell you something will show just words. That is because the written word is already IN YOUR head before you get to analyze it. It by-passes things you see in real life that you reject because you have defenses up and therefore do not allow it to affect you. Trolls and bullies who are taking entertainment from the emotional buy-in of the immersives can not understand the level of pain they are causing. To them it is all just a giggle. I am panicked and am currently rewriting what was a presentation to inform adults, teachers and administrators into something more entertainingly important for a younger audience. This is where my 17 years as a professional clown may come in handy. I will use my balloon animals and the air we blow into them to equal our engagement levels. How much belief do we buy into something? I am also adding colors to the States of Being, because the words are too large for the young ones. Now Disassociative will be RED, Immersives will be white, and Augmentatives will be Green. I don't know if anyone will call me back to take me up on my offer of assistance, but the urgency to give tools to our young digital citizens is burning inside me. I have to try.” Pamala is passionate to help, so please pass the word on to as many educators and parents as possible; Lets give the kids all the support they need to use the internet as a safe, happy and unthreatening part of their lives. For more information contact Pamala Clift in Second Life or through her website. Virtual Handhold, LLC Human/Computer Interface Psychology http://www.virtualhandhold.com/blog/2013/09/12/Cyber-Bullying.aspx State of Being http://www.virtualhandhold.com/State-of-Being.html
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