April 16, 2010
8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Bergen Community College

Lyndhurst, NJ (March 26, 2010) The use of technology is quickly becoming the primary means of bullying and harassment, particularly among adolescents.  Text and picture messaging through cell phones and instant messaging via the Internet have taken the place of the traditional schoolyard bully and have led to an explosion in bullying, harassment and other exploitive behaviors on-line.  The immediacy and relative anonymity of the Internet creates an illusion of safety for the perpetrator and no safe haven for the victim, while increasing the overall likelihood of impulsive and inappropriate sharing of words and images.

This workshop will explore how the blending of technology and adolescent development creates a potent and dangerous combination, leading to excessive risk-taking and the inability to control impulses and foresee consequences.  The role of peers, the prevalence of on-line harassment, and the “sexualizing” of on-line communication will also be explored.  Facebook and YouTube rule kids’ lives, but Second Life (a user-created virtual world) is the newest and possibly biggest threat teens may face in the next few years; it will be used as an example of the power and danger of virtual worlds.

 The April 16 workshop will enable participants to:

• learn strategies to help adolescents evaluate their on-line behaviors
•  examine how personal information about children and teens can be obtained through on-line searches
• learn strategies to help children understand the risks of disclosing personally identifying information on the Internet
•  explore the nature and dangers of virtual worlds on the Internet 
•  consider and discuss the potential social, emotional, psychological, and cultural implications of violent and sexualized imagery on the Internet
• understand how the strong  need for status and social connection in adolescence increase the likelihood of risk-taking
• use bio-psychosocial factors as guidelines to develop clinical and school-based intervention strategies

The workshop features these expert speakers: Lt. Joseph Rampolla, MA, who currently oversees the Detective Bureau for the Park Ridge Police Dept. In 2003 he was assigned to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Computer Crimes Task Force; Andrew Yeager, MA, a NJ state certified School Psychologist and Student Assistance Coordinator, for the Park Ridge School District. Yeager is Co-Executive Producer of the films "Sticks and Stones" and "The Web;" Nancy Gifford, JD, advisor to iKeepSafe, an internet safety coalition that provides families with tools, education, and resources they need to stay safe online and to implement an internet safety strategy in their homes; and Julia McDonald, Team Coordinator for the Exploited Child Team for Team Hope, a program of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

CBHCare University is the Professional Development Division of Comprehensive Behavioral Healthcare (CBHCare).  Founded in 1969 in response to the critical need for counseling services in the community, CBHCare is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the highest quality of behavioral healthcare services to the people of New Jersey. Over the past 40 years, CBHCare has expanded its services to all ages - from children to seniors.

With treatment centers in Lyndhurst, Hackensack and River Edge, CBHCare offers quality mental health services including individual and family counseling; rehabilitation; alcohol and substance abuse treatment; the Valley Brook Center for Geriatric Partial Care; residential, and preventive services - making CBHCare one of the most vital and important healthcare resources in northern New Jersey.