College can be a time for students to reinvent themselves and slowly work into adulthood, but a recent Huffington Post article suggests, some universities are concerned that bullying and intimidation continues into higher education.

According to the article, anti-bullying legislation would entice universities to regulate what is said on college campuses to prevent any threatening or abusive speech that may hinder learning. The article also stated these regulations would harm student freedoms more than protect them

While one staff member said online bullying might be a bigger issue than verbal on-campus bullying, some students said bullying isn’t really a campus issue.

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Rosemary Simmons, SIU Counseling Center director and a licensed clinical psychologist, said same students have needed university officers’ help for accounts of bullying at the university.

“There are often cases were students considered moving out of halls or changing universities because of bullying, and those students who engaged in that behavior have faced repercussions from the student conduct code,” she said.

Simmons said she has dealt with several cases of student intimidation and harassment. in her 25 years as a university employee.

“Unfortunately, harassment has been an issue at this school and higher education in general, but in the last 15 years it seems people have taken notice of bullying and the impact it has on students,” she said.

Simmons said she has seen a decrease in on-campus bullying because universities actively recognize and stop harassment. Unfortunately, she said, people have looked for alternative ways to harass students. Most notable of which is cyberbullying, the use of technology, mainly computers, to slander and emotionally abuse people over the Internet.

When cruel or false information is spread from one person to the other through the Internet, it is hard for students to defend themselves from slander, she said.

“If it is on Facebook, then it usually finds its way on Twitter,” she said. “The information circulates to hundreds, if not thousands, of other people, and there is nothing students can do to stop it from spreading,” Simmons said.

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Anonymity is one of the biggest appeals to cyberbullying, Simmons said, and harassing someone without seeing them face-to-face makes them perfect targets.

“When you insult or hurt somebody, there are verbal and non-verbal cues to indicate if you are upset,” she said. “When you are looking at a person, you can tell if you are making them angry or sad. When it is over the Internet, it is easier to objectify, ignore and deny those person’s feelings because you cannot see how it affects those people in person.”

Although Simmons said she has seen harassment through the years, and despite the Huffington Post article’s assertions, some university students said they have not run into many bullying problems.

Alaina Howard, a Warren Hall resident assistant and a junior from Palatine in fashion design merchandising, said she has seen harassment in her hall, but nothing was too extreme.

“It seems like there is always going to be issues with residents in the halls, but I do not think people classify it as bullying when they argue back and forth because it is harmless bickering,” she said. “I would not say it is a big issue, but there are always problems that stem from what we RAs call ‘drama-enticed actions,’ like yelling or some disagreements here and there.”

Lucas Larson, a senior from Prophetstown in agribusiness economics, said he has only heard about harassment instances on campus.

“I know the university recommends people do not enter Thompson Woods at night because of instances in the past, but personally, I have never seen anyone be bullied since I came here,” he said.

Lindsay Miller, a sophomore from Elgin studying advertising, said she has witnessed a few instances of cyberbullying, mostly toward gay-rights supporters on Facebook.

“Lately gay rights has been a big issue, and you get plenty of people saying negative things about it on Facebook whether it is people changing around the equal symbol to stand for anti-gay rights, or people just badmouthing the gay-rights issue. It is just an open forum for people to post hateful comments and put down other people’s views,” she said.

Simmons said she has seen students bullied enough to the point where they feel they cannot feel comfortable living on campus, and she hopes students can talk to faculty about their problems to prevent future issues.

“I want to encourage students that if they are a victim of bullying, they should seek help from the many offices on campus, whether it is the Counseling Center, Department of Public Safety or the Students Rights and Responsibilities. The university does not tolerate harassment, but we cannot take action unless we know about it,” she said.