Purdue Coach Matt Painter Makes Statement Against Cyberbullying
The NCAA is taking a stronger stance against cyberbullying and online harassment. As part of the initiative to fight against online bullying, Purdue men's basketball coach Matt Painter offered a statement.
This week, the NCAA released data from its first online harassment study. Per the organization, more than 72,000 messages were flagged and 5,000 were reported as abusive posts that targeted student-athletes, coaches and officials.
It's become a sad and disheartening aspect of college athletics. But the NCAA and Painter are hoping to deter people from attacking student-athletes on social media moving forward.
"Online abuse and cyberbullying have no place in our society or college athletics. Thousands of student-athletes across the country face harassment every day on social media, and the bullying can affect their mental health well-being, causing stress, depression and suicidal thoughts," Painter said.
"The increased exposure to online gambling only exacerbates the online abuse, with many student-athletes receiving death threats via social media. We are asking all social media companies and platforms to do more to identify and remove these online threats and make their platforms safer for everyone."
.@BoilerBall head coach @CoachPainter on online abuse and cyberbullying ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JMzAGCi3W2
— NCAA (@NCAA) October 10, 2024
With the ease and accessibility of online sports gambling, athletes, coaches and officials on all levels have witnessed an increase in social media harassment and online abuse. The NCAA is calling on those platforms to do a better job of handling those situations.
"I've heard too many student-athletes talk about abusive messages they have received, and for the first time ever, we now have evidence of the scale at which this is occurring. It's incredibly alarming and completely unacceptable," NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a release.
"Fans have to do better, social media companies have to do more to identify and remove this content, and we all need reminders about responsible social media usage. Student-athletes come to college hoping to fulfill their athletic and academic dreams, and our job at the NCAA is to provide them with the most fulfilling experience possible. We will exhaust all options to reduce the harassment and vitriol student-athletes are experiencing too often today."
Hopefully an increased level of patrolling on social media platforms helps to cut down on the amount of cyberbullying that student-athletes, coaches and officials endure moving forward.
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