Summary
Cyberbullying is a serious phenomenon that affects
individual students and school culture.
Teachers and parents need to establish clear rules and guidelines for
using internet resources and monitor student computer use. Education on netiquette, recognizing,
avoiding, and responding to cyberbullying is also important. Administrators need to also remain aware of
school culture, including prevalence of cyberbullying through anonymous surveys
to recognize and react to potential problems.
Educators are not alone in this arena; there are many online and
community resources to aid in the prevention of cyberbullying.
Reflection
As a teenager, the internet was
still a budding technology. It was not
until my college days that social media like MySpace and instant messaging
really took off. As such, I never had
much experience being cyberbullied, although I was once sexually assaulted online. Remembering that incident and my inability to
block or otherwise get rid of my assailant, I can see how a younger person
could feel powerless in an online setting.
To further know and have to face your attackers in real life would
certainly be very intimidating.
In this regard, I was happy to see
so many resources online aimed at combatting cyberbullying. I checked out the National Crime PreventionCouncil and Anti-Defamation League specifically, both had very clear messages
for parents, teachers, and students of various ages. In a partnering school, these resources would
be an excellent starting point for students to create their own content on
preventing cyberbullying in their school.
One of the best resources for teachers was this simple table from the
ADL:
Even
for adults, responding to bullying can be intimidating. Having some responses handy is a huge
help. My husband was plagued by bullies
as a child and one of his biggest frustrations, even today, was that his teachers
did nothing and even went so far as to excuse the bullies’ behavior when my
mother-in-law complained to the principal.
Bullying is never excusable and we as teachers need to be prepared to take
action when we recognize it happening.
Wow! I really enjoyed reading your post. The links to the Anti-Defamation League table was very helpful and helps teachers understand how to handle bullying. As a teacher, it is hard to figure out how to prevent bullying. It is easy to have "bully free" zones etc, but there is so much more to it than that. I liked the table and may use it when I have my own classroom.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lindsay! I agree - having a source for practical solutions was extremely helpful for me too. Speaking out is difficult, no matter what your age or position.
DeleteI know how you feel with growing up in a range in which net penetration was low enough to avoid any real cyber bullying. Conventional bullying I have some experience with, but it can be entirely different. The reason cyber bullying has such distinction is this difference. Regular bullying is harder to hide since it occurs between people in physical settings it can be overseen and heard much easier. I found the chapter very helpful on the tips for identifying cyber bullying and the tips it gave on fighting it. Further the chart you linked will be most useful. What are your thoughts on the clandestine nature of cyber bullying? What tips or tricks can you think of to help fight against it?
ReplyDeleteAh... the safety of the interwebs to say whatever you want, no matter how cruel.
DeleteI think the internet can cultivate a culture of snipers just as easy as it can cultivate a culture of innovators. Anonymity provides security for the insecure such that we are emboldened to communicate in ways we would not face-to-face.
This is nothing new though... long before the internet, Ramona Beasley (a popular children's fiction character) found that she could finally confront her teacher while wearing a cat mask.
Knowing that we're all born egocentric, education and communication is key to promoting responsible internet behavior among kiddos. We as educators need to help them think about and role play scenarios to build their understanding of how other people are affected by words and actions, whether spoken or electronic.