A few days ago, I got to help judge a student technology fair here at UNI. I watched a student video that was about cyberbullying. This video included situations where students had been affected by cyberbullies and was written and performed by two students. I asked those students why they had picked to research cyberbullying. They explained that it was a growing problem and someone needed to raise awareness for it. I decided to find ways educators can help prevent cyberbullying in the classroom.
First of all, "'cyberbullying' is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones."
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
"When schools try and get involved by disciplining the student for cyberbullying actions that took place off-campus and outside of school hours, they are often sued for exceeding their authority and violating the student's free speech right. They also, often lose. Schools can be very effective brokers in working with the parents to stop and remedy cyberbullying situations. They can also educate the students on cyberethics and the law. If schools are creative, they can sometimes avoid the claim that their actions exceeded their legal authority for off-campus cyberbullying actions. We recommend that a provision is added to the school's acceptable use policy reserving the right to discipline the student for actions taken off-campus if they are intended to have an effect on a student or they adversely affect the safety and well-being of student while in school. This makes it a contractual, not a constitutional, issue."
The prevention of cyberbullying is very difficult and catching and punishing a cyberbully is even harder. A teacher must figure out how they want to go about educating students on ways to prevent it. They can create a safe atmosphere where a student would feel safe to report bullying. The teacher must make it clear that bullying will not be tolerated and that it can be more than just a violation of school rules, it can be a criminal act. The effects of cyberbullying should be discussed and students should know where they can go to report it and where they can get help with any other problems.
First of all, "'cyberbullying' is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones."
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
"When schools try and get involved by disciplining the student for cyberbullying actions that took place off-campus and outside of school hours, they are often sued for exceeding their authority and violating the student's free speech right. They also, often lose. Schools can be very effective brokers in working with the parents to stop and remedy cyberbullying situations. They can also educate the students on cyberethics and the law. If schools are creative, they can sometimes avoid the claim that their actions exceeded their legal authority for off-campus cyberbullying actions. We recommend that a provision is added to the school's acceptable use policy reserving the right to discipline the student for actions taken off-campus if they are intended to have an effect on a student or they adversely affect the safety and well-being of student while in school. This makes it a contractual, not a constitutional, issue."
The prevention of cyberbullying is very difficult and catching and punishing a cyberbully is even harder. A teacher must figure out how they want to go about educating students on ways to prevent it. They can create a safe atmosphere where a student would feel safe to report bullying. The teacher must make it clear that bullying will not be tolerated and that it can be more than just a violation of school rules, it can be a criminal act. The effects of cyberbullying should be discussed and students should know where they can go to report it and where they can get help with any other problems.
Dear Kaitlyn: Good piece here on cyberbullying. We can defeat this phenomenon through education and awareness by our youth of unintended consequences. You may want to alert your readers to the recently published "Teen Cyberbullying Investigated" by Free Spirit Publishing [www.freespirit.com]. Endorsed by Dr. Phil on APril 8, 2010, TCI is written for teens as well as adults. It presents real cases of kids in trouble over their blogs, emails, Facebook posts and more. We can help prevent the next Phoebe Prins or Alexis Pilkington. Thanks for looking at TCI. Regards,
ReplyDeleteJudge Tom.