Go Daddy Launches Educational Campaign to Help Curb Cyberbullying

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Go Daddy has spent years working to keep the Internet safe for all users, and now the Internet giant is targeting cyberbullies. Go Daddy announced it has donated $200,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, Ariz., in order to expand the organization’s technology labs, add new computers and incorporate education about how to combat bullies who use the Internet to harass others.

“It's just too easy to use a keyboard and a computer as a tool to bully and intimidate people. Go Daddy wants to help young people learn how to deal with cyberbullies ... the right way.”

As a high-profile Internet mogul, Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons knows how rough the Web can be when it comes to critics. "I have seen first-hand how mean-spirited people can be on the Internet," Parsons said. "It's just too easy to use a keyboard and a computer as a tool to bully and intimidate people. Go Daddy wants to help young people learn how to deal with cyberbullies ... the right way."

To that end, Parsons’ latest video blog at www.BobParsons.me provides ways people can fight cyberbullying. Later this summer, Go Daddy’s tutorials will include education about telltale signs of a cyberbully, how to properly report them and the importance of resisting the urge to engage with a cyberbully.

Online abuse is particularly difficult for teenagers. More than half of adolescents and teens surveyed said they have been bullied online at one time or another¹. The problem is serious. Two recent teen suicides were traced to extreme cyberbullying.

“The Web can be a tricky place for kids and yet they love to spend time on the computer,” said Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale Senior Vice President Jeff Miller. “The Go Daddy Technology Lab and the curriculum that comes with it are going to make a big difference for us. This will give many kids the equipment and educational tools to help better handle cyberbullying, as well as help teach them a skill that could ultimately lead to a good job!”

Making a difference is a mantra for Go Daddy, which has donated more than $4.7 million to charities already this year. Go Daddy is the world’s largest provider of Web hosting, domain name registrations and net new SSL Certificates. Go Daddy has testified before U.S. Congress many times about Internet safety, and helped create federal laws to protect children online and fight rogue online pharmacies, a cause inspired by a teenager’s fatal overdose in 2001.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale have been providing children a safe environment since 1954 and serve more than 16,000 people. Go Daddy employees will be helping train Boys & Girls Club staff and students. The first state-of-the-art lab goes into the Virginia G. Piper Branch of the Boys & Girls Club, which is expected to open later this summer.

“We are taking one of my 16 Rules to a whole new level,” Parsons said. “Rule number 12, ‘Never Let Anyone Push You Around.’”

To see Parsons’ blog about how to fight cyberbullies, visit www.BobParsons.me.

To learn more about the Boys & Girls Clubs, visit www.bgcs.org.

To find out more about Go Daddy’s charity work, go to www.GoDaddyCares.com.

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About The Go Daddy Group, Inc.

Go Daddy is a leading provider of services that enable individuals and businesses to establish, maintain and evolve an online presence. Go Daddy provides a variety of domain name registration plans and website design and hosting packages, as well as a broad array of on-demand services. These include products such as SSL Certificates, Domains by Proxy private registration, ecommerce website hosting, blog templates and blog software, podcast packages and online photo hosting. The Go Daddy Group has more than 48 million domain names under management. Go Daddy registers, renews or transfers more than one domain name every second of every day. GoDaddy.com is the world’s largest Web hosting provider, and is the world's No. 1 domain name registrar, according to Name Intelligence, Inc. In 2010, The Go Daddy Group registered more than one-third of all new domain names created in the top six generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, including .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz and .mobi.

- The Go Daddy Group -

¹ National Crime Prevention Association 2011