I never thought when I wrote my article about the behaviour of some cyclists who ignore both the Highway Code and good manners that I would be subjected to abusive comments from some anonymous commentators. I made it clear, I thought, I was referring to some, rather than all, cyclists. As a result of receiving a number of these comments I have now restricted comments on this blog to people who identify themselves. I set the blog up so that comments could be made as contributors thought fit but I didn’t think for one moment that some would see this as Carte Blanche to be personally abusive. The interesting thing is that this has only happened on this one subject of “cyclists” despite all the controversial matters I have written about since the blog began.
Our deepest sympathy goes to the family of Hannah Smith who sadly committed suicide as a result of on-line bullying. What has happened to me is insignificant with what happened to Hannah and some other teenagers who have ended their lives because of it. However I have found it quite distressing and can fully understand how this can affect vulnerable teenagers. I want to draw attention to the responsibility of online sites, particularly those who are designed to attract teenagers, to ensure the safety of their contributors and not to permit the kind of bullying which seems prevalent.
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