The Dangers of Cyber Bullying

Bullying has become a social menace. Bullies no longer bully their way on the play ground, they use other means too. They can now extend their nefarious activities by using social media, email and texting. This new way to bully has given rise to the phenomenon called and known as cyber bullying. This type of bullying uses digital tools to advance the agenda of cruelty and hatred.  Bullies are making their victims uncomfortable through abuse, and the target doesn’t see the attacker. The abuse of a target may come in verbal and emotional form through the various technological devices. Physical abuse is rare in cyber bullying because of the limited contact between the bully and the victim, however often times victims will be both bullied physically and through cyber means.

One way to stop cyber-bullying through text messages is to install a smartphone app on your child’s phone like WordBully. Bully Buster USA has helped Iconosys to develop this amazing technology that acts as a filter to not let cyber-bully messages through to the phone.

Don”t be a Cyber-Bully

The use of the Internet and similar tools to intimidate and coerce people has been on the rise. It is particularly common in modern societies and among young people. As young people expose themselves using the Internet, they also expose themselves to cyber bullies. The hostile behavior that a bully exhibits causes undue psychological and emotional damage to the victim. It gives an impression that the bully intends to harm the target using digital mechanisms and methods. Another form of harassment is called cyber stalking. Cyber stalking takes in the form of a person stalking a celebrity or an an ordinary person to the point it causes great inconvenience. It is also considered a form of cyber bullying. It becomes bullying when the person is no longer free to avoid the dark agenda of the bully. The bully typically wants to instill fear and coercion to the target. The bully takes advantage of the power imbalance, often times threatening physical violence and in extreme cases death.

There have been a lot of people driven to commit suicide as a result of cyber bullying. It also causes undue stress and mental anxiety to people. It may lead to serious medical conditions if there is no intervention done to solve the problem. The challenge to stop cyber bullying is to raise awareness among victims to speak up. It is important that targets are able to talk about their situation with a trusted adult. The success of cyber bullying is in the non-reporting of incidents. If there is no break in the cycle of emotional and mental violence, these bullies will still use the imbalance of power to advance their agenda and perpetuate the culture of bullying in cyber space.

Learn more at www.BullyBusterUSA.org

Be our friend on Facebook.com/bullybusterusa

Follow us on Twitter @BullyBusterUSA

ICONOSYS NAMES RYAN FOLAND, FOUNDER OF BULLY BUSTER USA, AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

 ICONOSYS NAMES RYAN FOLAND AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Foland will also serve as Chief Events Manager for Iconosys’ Text Kills® community outreach program.

 

August 30, 2012, Laguna Niguel, CA: Today, Iconosys, Inc., a leading safety and lifestyle mobile communications app developer announces the addition of Ryan E. Foland to its executive management team. Mr. Foland joins Iconosys as its new Chief Operating Officer, and will be primarily responsible for oversight over the company’s business operations and its related progress in the areas of revenue and profit growth, as well as assisting Wayne Irving, II, the company’s co-Founder and current CEO and CFO, in supervising certain special projects such as the Fan Apps sports figure/celebrity app, the Travel America Visitor Guide membership system, and the company’s Custom App development team.

 

Commented Mr. Irving, “I have known Ryan for a number of years, and am proud and excited to now have him officially on board as part of the Iconosys team.  I’ve enjoyed and appreciated our previous collaborations, and feel our track record together is a good indicator of how well he fits into our organization here. His work and dedication to such outreach programs and causes like Bully Buster USA and the promotion of youth safety, combined with his impressive business background and experience, makes him the perfect person to direct our day-to-day operations here at Iconosys, and to help us forge and solidify our various corporate alliances with community oriented programs like the campaign to stop bullying, cyber-bullying, and the very hazardous practices of distracted driving and TWD (texting while driving).”

 

RYAN FOLAND BIO: 
With his prior business affiliations and financial planning work, Mr. Foland brings a number of valuable strategic relationships and broad industry experience to the Iconosys management team. He has over 8 years of “hands on” executive management experience with small to mid-sized companies, and has developed strategic marketing concepts combined with related implementation processes that have combined to produce impressive results. As founder of Foland Financial Corporation (FFC), Mr. Foland previously worked as a principal, investment analyst and consultant for individuals and various private investment groups, helping his clients achieve their financial objectives in such areas as capital raises, mortgages and refinancings, and debt consolidations/personal finance, and throughout his career has developed an expertise for assessing investment opportunities across a wide range of industries, including construction, project finance, entertainment, sports technologies and high tech.

 

Mr. Foland is also Founder of Bully Buster USA™ a not-for-profit organization that spreads awareness and information about anti-bullying education and good practices to schools and the larger, surrounding communities, and has previously worked with Iconosys as co-developer of the celebrated Iconosys Smartphone anti-cyberbullying app, WordBully™. In addition, Foland’s ongoing commitment toward improved teen and child safety makes him a perfect candidate to assist Iconosys’ CEO and co-Founder, Wayne Irving, II, in overseeing the Company’s 3-year old outreach program, TextKills®. In addition, most recently and concurrently, Mr. Foland also serves as Vice President, Talent Acquisition and as a member of the board of directors of Fan Apps, Inc., an applications marketing company servicing the sports business and athlete/celebrity endorser market and a subsidiary of Iconosys.

 

Actively demonstrating his commitment to giving back to the local and regional communities, Mr. Foland, who has earned two black belts (TaeKwando and Shaloin Kempo Karate), enjoys teaching Karate to aspiring youth at Zen Dojos Martial Arts Academy in San Juan Capistrano, California. Often found at outreach events around Southern California, Mr. Foland is passionate about teaching children to acquire important social and vocational skills, confidence building techniques, and outdoor sports experiences.

 

Born and raised in Southern California, Foland is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a B.A. with Honors in Business Economics and a B.A with Honors in Dramatic Arts. In addition, Mr. Foland attended the University of Phoenix, where he received his M.B.A (Masters in Business Administration) degree. Mr. Foland has also recently authored The Bully Buster OC Parent Resource Guide, helping families learn more about bullying and cyber-bullying solutions.

 

About Iconosys, Inc.:

Iconosys, a member of the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS) and the maker of the widely used and well-publicized Trick or Tracker®, Word Bully™, Guard’s Up!™, LatchKey Kid™, and My Max Speed™ Smartphone safety apps, is developing technologies and technology driven products for its client with a goal toward designing apps that enrich, enhance, and ultimately make safer, our day-to-day lives.

 

As part of its corporate mission, Iconosys remains strongly committed to community outreach and service, and toward that end has built apps for many organizations and non-profits including, Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), Orange County Aids Services Foundation, Long Beach Aids Foundation, and Del Monte Fresh Produce. Iconosys develops apps and related technologies for iOS and Android OS Smartphones and tablet computers. See a cross section of some of Iconosys’ catalog of nearly 4000 Smart device apps from your Smartphone browser:  http://apps.iconosys.com, and from your computer browser:  http://iconosys.com/product.php.

NATIONALLY RANKED FENCING TWINS JOIN THE TEXT KILLS TEAM.

Morgan and Ryan Jenkins are the only Y10 female saber fencers currently ranked in three nationally recognized age divisions, and are now proud to be part of the Iconosys Team Text Kills and sponsored by Bully Buster USA.

National Fencing Champs and part of the TextKills Team

Laguna Niguel, California, July 12, 2012 – TextKills®, which was formed in 2010 as an outgrowth of  Iconosys’ grass roots efforts to raise awareness for its crusade against texting while driving and cyber-bullying, has a wrapped RV that now has two new signatures of two very inspiring young women.

The Text Kills Bus, has made several cross country signature gathering trips, in each instance asking college and high school students and other concerned citizens to do everything they can to refrain from texting and/or talking on the phone behind the wheel, and making a pledge to not being a bully. The two newest signatures come from Morgan and Ryan Jenkins, who are nationally ranked fencers, and who serve as role models for their peers on the matter of anti-bullying efforts.

Fencing is a physical game of Chess that relies on a combination of speed, agility, creativity, and control. One thing that dueling and fencing share is passion; whether fighting for your life or for a medal, fencing requires focusing all of your mental and physical energy on defeating the opponent.

“Competitive fencing has allowed us to learn about good sportsmanship and compassion, and these are important values for all kids to have,” said Morgan, who is ranked Y10-1st, Y12-11th, Y14- 50^th in the nation. “Fencing etiquette requires fencers to shake hands at the end of a bout and salute the ref, and whether we win or lose, we always respect our opponent.”

“Both girls understand the issue of bullying”, said Jeffrie Jenkins, mother of the girls.  “ Fencing has been great for the girls’ self-esteem. They feel more empowered and stronger since joining Laguna Fencing Center, and when they were asked to be part of the Text Kills Team and sponsored by Bully Buster USA, they were honored at the opportunity.”

“We had played many different sports, and as soon as we tried fencing, we fell in love with it,” Said Ryan, who is ranked Y10- 2rd, Y12-14th, Y14- 53rd. “When people hear what we do, a lot of them think that we are just fighting with swords, simply trying to stab each other. It is a lot more than that, and there is a lot of hard work that goes into our training.”

“They know the difference between right and wrong and know not to stand idly by when they see something unacceptable,” said Mrs. Jenkins.  “Much of this strength has come from the empowerment they have gained through competing and training and the example they have in coach and their teammates.”

Ryan and Morgan Jenkins of the Laguna Fencing Center

“They placed international, in the Pan American games where Morgan came first and Ryan came second,” said their Coach Nick Dinu, of the joining Laguna Fencing Center . “They had no choice to fight each other in the finals because they beat everyone else. Because they are ranked number one and number two in the country often they get to fight each other in the finals.”

Iconosys and Bully Buster USA is proud to announce that the girls made it to the finals in their age division at the National Championships and July North American Cup for fencing that was held June 29-July 8 in Anaheim.  Competing in their own back yard, and they both had their eyes on the championship, but only one could come out the National Champion.

“My dream for this year was to win nationals,” said Ryan, “and obviously my sister shared the same dream. We both made it to the finals, and after a great duel, my sister won. We are both proud of our performances especially since it was our first competition sponsored by Bully Buster USA and being new members of the Text Kills Team.”

About TextKills®
The TextKills® Tour is a not-for-profit, donation funded, outreach program, founded in 2010 by Iconosys and its executives to take the message of distracted driving to schools and events around the country, and in an effort to raise awareness of the risks associated with this addictive behavior. In a 2010 bus tour stretching across the country from Southern California to its final destination in Washington, D.C., the TextKills® tour bus visited 26 colleges, three high schools, and countless safety/street fairs with the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol, eventually collecting nearly 20,000 signatures as part of the “Sign the Bus” pledge to refrain from texting while driving. For more information about our cause and mission, please visit www.textkills.com.  You can even sign the bus online at textkills.com and get a copy of your signature sent to you (as it appears on the bus).

Recently partnering with Bully Buster USA in 2012, the Text Kills bus, has taken a stance on the use of texting as a form of bullying.

The TextKills tour bus, based out of Orange County, California regularly partners with law enforcement, fire and safety authorities, schools, and local cities/communities in an effort to keep people thinking about the risks that cell phones can pose when used while driving or when used to bully.

To arrange for the TextKills tour bus to visit your school, please call Ryan at (949) 335-5350 or email ryan.foland@iconosys.com

Support the fight against bullying, watch the Video for the world’s only tool to protect our children from predators and bullies through their smartphone.  http://youtu.be/Nero2iUpL_w

Follow us on Twitter @BullyBusterUSA

PRESS RELEASE: Bully Buster USA joins Iconosys, Inc. to Launch the New WordBully™ 3.0 App, As Ultimate Means of Self Defense

Reaching out to the Professional Fighting Community: The ‘Ultimate Anti-Bully” App to fight to eliminate cyber-bullying. 

Introducing WordBully3.0

Laguna Niguel, California, April 26, 2012 – Bully Buster USA, an Orange County-based not-for-profit and community outreach organization dedicated to the cause of eliminating bullying and Cyber-Bullying in our schools and among our youth, has partnered with Iconosys, Inc., a leader in mobile safety communication and life-style applications, to launch Word Bully™ 3.0, the ultimate app and means of self-defense in the battle against bullying and cyber-bullying.

Word Bully™ 3.0 allows the concerned parent/guardian to customize a protective filter for shielding their child or loved one against profanity, vulgar or threatening language, or other offensive or objectionable communications, all with the protection of password-enabled access for the parent/guardian.

“People we know, bully us.  Word Bully 3.0 is Iconosys effort to stay ahead of the mind of the aggressors and protect our children at all costs.”  Commented Wayne Irving, CEO, Iconosys. “Too many children are victims of bullying.  Word Bully is a boundary setting tool, can help children all over the world.”

Cyber-bullying is an epidemic that carries with it great dangers for the general population, not to mention our children, friends and family members.  In today’s society, where much of our discourse and communications are done via the Internet and text messaging, our loved-ones (both children and adults) are easy prey for, and potential victims of, the harmful practice of cyber-bullying.

Word Bully™ 3.0 features include the following:

• Filtering Messages.  Monitors for approximately 4,200 words, acronyms, bulli-cons, and known phrases that might be considered profanity, threatening, or vulgar, and also allows the parent or user to customize their own watch list of cyber-bully terms (see below).
• Blocks Messages/Forwards Messages.  Stops inbound and outbound questionable communications and forwards them to parents and others with a “need to know”.
• Manage Words/Phrases Lists.  Provides extra protectionby allowing you to create, manage and monitor a customized list of cyber-bully watch words (e.g.  acronyms, abbreviations, cultural-isms, and gang-style lingo).
• Identify Bullies.  Allows you to use the app to filter and monitor ALL incoming text message communications, or to choose to ignore messages from specific numbers/texters.
• Locate your Child via GPS.  Locatesyour child, family member or loved one anytime with Trick or Tracker® child location retrieval service.  If GPS is off, locate your child thru IP address trace routing.
• Notify if Childs Phone Battery is Low.  AND NOW automatically sends you your child’s precise physical location, via gps and at intervals with low battery notifications to your phone so you can 1) be informed that the child’s phone is in fact running low on battery power, and 2) be informed regarding the child’s last identified whereabouts during what might-be stressful times.
• Intentional Power-Down LKL (Last Known Location) Notify.  When your child’s phone is intentionally powered off using the power off button, the phone will send the last physical recorded location of your child upon the phone’s shutting down.
• Offensive Messages Lock-Box. Finally, the app stores the offensive and filtered test messages, for long term retrieval, in a password protected lockbox on the device, resistant to water, electrical, and impact damage.

As recently reported by The National Crime Prevention Council in July of 2011, cyber-bullying is a problem that currently affects almost half of all American teens.  Cyber-bullying is known to cause very serious psychological effects, including destruction of a young person’s feelings of self-worth, self-esteem and confidence.  Word Bully™ 3.0 now gives actual or potential victims and their families the power to fight back and defend themselves by policing, monitoring and censoring these harmful and destructive communications.

” We are also seeking support from the professional fighting community (such as boxing, UFC, MMA) to spread nationwide awareness of this new technology.  Role models to millions of young fans, professional fighters have a unique opportunity to support the worthy cause of fighting cyber-bullies.” commented Ryan Foland, Word Bully Ambassador and Bully Buster USA founder.

Availability:

Word Bully 3.0 is available for free, for a limited time, for Android OS Smartphones and SMS enabled tablets (now more than 60% of the worlds phones are androids), from  http://www.WordBully.net, http://wordbully.iconosys.com, and the AppHysteria Appstore at www.apphysteria.com.

 

About Iconosys, Inc:

Iconosys, a member of the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS), and now a partner with Bully Buster USA, and the maker of the widely used and well publicized Trick or Tracker®, Guard’s Up!™, LatchKey Kid™, and teen speed monitor My Max Speed™  Smartphone apps, is developing technologies and technology driven products for its clients with a goal toward designing apps that enrich, enhance, and ultimately make safer, our day to day lives.  And now, our apps also can help you save money!!!

Iconosys develops apps and technologies for iOS and Android OS Smartphones and tablet computers. See a cross section of some of Iconosys’ catalog of more than 1000 Smart device apps from your Smartphone browser: http://apps.iconosys.com, and from your computer browser: http://iconosys.com/product.php.

About Bully Buster USA:

Bully Buster OC, a local chapter of Bully Buster USA was formed by Ryan Foland with the intension of developing a unique “Bully-Buster” workshop for kids and parents of Orange County. The workshop promotes self-confidence and arms children with the knowhow to handle bullies in a non-violent way, learning how to avoid potentially harmful situations, resolve problems as they arise, and manage the conflict if it gets to the physical level.   The popularity and demand for the workshop has led Ryan to compile and author his Bully Buster OC Parent Resource Guide, which is now available through Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Smashwords.com. Bully Buster USA is developing its website to be a central directory hub for anti-bullying resources, educational material, and a platform to showcase technology that helps to stop bullying before it starts.  For more information about upcoming events, outreach programs, or to find out how you can help, visit www.BullyBusterUSA.org or call 888-312-4954.

 

Press Contact
Andrew Felix

Max Borges Agency

80 SW 8th St, Floor 27

Miami, FL 33130

305-347-4404 x136

andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com

 

Get hi-res graphic here:

http://iconosys.com/uploads/wordbullystack_withesp3.png 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE: Bully Buster OC goes Nationwide as Bully Buster USA

San Juan Capistrano, California. April 25^th, 2012. – With growing support and recent partnership with Iconosys, Inc., a leader in mobile safety communication and life-style applications, Bully Buster OC has decided to expand its anti-bullying education to reach to the nation through the newly forming not-for-profit organization Bully Buster USA.  Along with this nationwide expansion to foster desired growth of his organization, founder Ryan Foland will still continue with his local outreach through community workshops, and school assemblies.

Bully Buster USA, will be an Orange County-based not-for-profit and community outreach organization dedicated to the cause of eliminating bullying and Cyber-Bullying in our schools and among our youth.  Launching Word Bully™ 3.0 with its new partner Iconosys Inc., Bully Buster USA is helping to leverage technology in the battle against bullying and cyber-bullying across the nation.

Cyber-bullying is an epidemic that carries with it great dangers for the general population, not to mention our children, friends and family members.  In today’s society, where much of our discourse and communications are done via the Internet and text messaging, our loved-ones (both children and adults) are easy prey for, and potential victims of, the harmful practice of cyber-bullying.

Word Bully™ 3.0 allows the concerned parent/guardian to customize a protective filter for shielding their child or loved one against profanity, vulgar or threatening language, or other offensive or objectionable communications, all with the protection of password-enabled access for the parent/guardian.  Bully Buster USA is proud to announce that

WordBully™ 3.0 is available for free, for a limited time, for Android OS Smartphones and SMS enabled tablets (now more than 60% of the world’s phones are androids), from http://www.WordBully.net, http://wordbully.iconosys.com, and the AppHysteria Appstore at www.apphysteria.com.

The significance of this step for Bully Buster OC’s national expansion to become Bully Buster USA comes at a time when many state laws are addressing the serious issue of bullying in schools, and more action is being called for by parents. In California, the state has called for action against bullying through two recent laws signed on October 9^th, 2011, by Governor Jerry Brown, to expand the definition of bullying to include sex orientation, require additional training for school staff and allow students who have been bullied to transfer districts.  Rebekah Orr, director of communications for Equality California states that “The bill also emphasizes the importance of addressing issues immediately before they become even more serious issues that can have an adverse impact on kids, whether those issues include isolation of students or the act of self-harm.”

“Such laws speak to the continued need for grass root support in local communities like my Bully Buster workshops;” Commented Ryan Foland, founder of Bully Buster USA. “Yet because the schools are not addressing cyber-bullying in these laws, there is no doubt as to the importance for larger nationwide solutions to cyber-bullying like the WordBully™ 3.0  app, using technology to help prevent problems of bullying before it starts.”

About Bully Buster USA:

Bully Buster USA was formed by Ryan Foland with the intention of developing a unique “Bully-Buster” workshop for kids and parents of Orange County. The workshop promotes self-confidence and arms children with the know how to handle bullies in a non-violent way, learning how to avoid potentially harmful situations, resolve problems as they arise, and manage the conflict if it gets to the physical level.   The popularity and demand for the workshop has led Ryan to compile and author his Bully Buster OC Parent Resource Guide, which is now available through Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Smashwords.com. Bully Buster USA is developing its website to be a central directory hub for anti-bullying resources, educational material, and a platform to showcase technology that helps to stop bullying before it starts.  For more information about upcoming events, outreach programs, or to find out how you can help, visit www.BullyBusterUSA.org or call 888-312-4954.

Bully Buster OC Launches WordBully™ Smart Phone Anti-Cyber-Bullying App at Saturday’s Workshp, and SJC Fire Truck to Visit!

I am proud to announce that Bully Buster OC has officially partnered with Iconosys, Inc., a leader in mobile safety communication and life-style applications, to launch Word Bully™, the ultimate defense against cyber-bullying. To celebrate this collaboration and the start of launching this great cyber-bullying tool to the community and nation, I will be giving people who attend my Bully Buster Workshop this Saturday, a FREE DOWNLOAD of the application!

Also I am excited to announce that the San Juan Capistrano Fire Department is going to bring a fire truck by Marbella Plaza at 10am to support the Bully Buster Workshop! It is so great to see the community come together to show that what we are doing really matters!

Now back to this phone app you need to know about! Word Bully™ allows the parent/guardian to customize a filter for profanity, vulgar or threatening language, or other offensive or objectionable communications, all with the protection of password-enabled access for the parent/guardian.

Cyber-bullying is an epidemic that carries with it great danger for the general population, not to mention our friends and family members.  In today’s society, where much of our discourse and communications are done via the Internet and text messaging, our loved-ones (children and adults) are easy targets for, and potential victims of, the harmful practice of cyber-bullying.

First coined and defined by Bill Belsey, “cyber-bullying” involves “the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, which is intended to harm others.” As recently reported by on the National Crime Prevention Council in July of 2011, cyber-bullying is a problem that currently affects almost half of all American teens.  Cyber-bullying is known to cause very serious psychological effects including destruction of a young person’s feelings of self-worth, self-esteem and confidence.  Word Bully™ now gives actual or potential victims and their families the power to fight back by policing, monitoring and censoring these harmful and destructive communications.

The press release is yet to hit the wire, but here is a statement by Wayne Irving II ,CEO and co-founder of Iconosys; “We are very excited to partner with Bully Buster OC and appoint Ryan Foland as the official ambassador of the app. Our goal is to get this app to the families who need it, and with Ryan’s grass root efforts in schools promoting bully prevention and awareness, he is the perfect person to head our efforts in a local and nationwide push.”

I am very excited and truly believe that the Word Bully™ App is an important incremental step in utilizing technology to protect children and give peace of mind to their parents.  With a small one time investment of only $9.99, concerned parents can download the application and know that his or her child is much less exposed to the threat of child predators and bullies. Such piece of mind I believe is well worth the investment! Now that most children carry phones, many of the circumstances that make them vulnerable when out of our sight, can be lessened with this unique and functional safety phone app.

Word Bully™ Features:

• Word Bully™ monitors for approximately 3,600 words, acronyms, bulli-cons, and phrases that might be considered profanity, threatening, vulgar, and even a custom add list.
• Enable and Disable the Word Bully™ service using a parental-controlled password.
• Word Bully™ monitors for inbound and outbound questionable communications and forwards to the parent’s phone.
• Word Bully™ allows you to create and manage a custom list of monitored words (e.g.  acronyms, abbreviations, cultural-isms, and gang-style lingo)
• Choose to monitor ALL of the text message communications with “Black Listed” individuals suspect to be a significant threat.
• Choose to ignore specific numbers or add numbers to a “White List”
• Locate your child anytime with Trick or Tracker® child location retrieval service, built right in!

If you are interested in purchasing this great application, simply visit Word Bully™ online.  If you would like to talk about how Bully Buster OC can help you, your school, church, or your community organization combat cyber-bullying, please contact me at (888) 312-4954.

Ryan Foland

Follow me on twitter @BullyBusterOC