Of all the topics that we have covered in the past week, I found that of cyberbullying to be particularly troublesome. The thing in and of itself seems so insidious. As teachers, it is difficult to discover whether or not it is happening and do something about it. with this in mind, the idea of cyberbullying leaves one feeling somewhat powerless in the face of such a destructive behavior.
As teachers, how can we do our utmost to prevent cyberbullying from occurring? Obviously, it is important for us to stay on par with the modes of technology that our students are using. We must also keep our students informed on the possible dangers online, such as online predators or cyberbullies. Teachers need to encourage parents to monitor their children's use of online networking or social sites.
In addition to the above, many schools now provide workshops for parents about the dangers of cyberbullying and concrete ways to monitor their children's use of the Internet. These workshops are offered for minimal fees ($5) or no charge at all. Involving the parents seems an invaluable way to fight this dangerous form of bullying.
It appears that ultimately, the more information we can get to students, parents, and other teachers, the more likely it is that we will discover and stop incidents of cyberbullying before they cause irreversible damage in the school community.
ED460 Personal and Social Well Being is a course taken by college students in education during their student teaching semester. Topics covered include: poverty, child abuse, bullying, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, counselors' role in school, adolescents and choices, and the use of technology.
So other than informing parents on what they can do to prevent cyberbullying, is there anything we as teachers can do?
ReplyDeleteOh, and what was the name of that workshop? A link would be nice too!! ^_^
I agree with what you are saying.
ReplyDeleteI also think it would be helpful for students to just know how to treat each other. It would be my hope that if students respect each other in person that they also would in "cyber" settings.
Honestly, all that cyber stuff, especially texting, scares me because there is so little adult control. Kids are not necissarily held accountable for what they say or pictures they post. And then people get hurt very easily.
But as I said, I think basic respect, along with the interventions you were suggestiong, would help alliviate the problem.
I agree completely! (see post)
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to inform students on how they can gather evidence of cyberbullying, by saving texts, saving screen images, ext, in addition to just talking about it and its dangers. Also, it is important to remind everyone that cyberbullying is a federal crime, and students have ended up in jail for it. Some bullies only respect something stronger then themselves, like the federal government. Not that that is a sure-fire way to go about it, but full disclosure of the consequences never hurts.
I totally a hundred percent agree with you that parents need to step up their game and monitor what their children do on the internet. I know personally I did not get a facebook till I was a senior in high school. And now I am pretty sure sixth graders have it now, and there is truly no need for a sixth grader to have a facebook. I think parents need to step it up and blocks sites and talk their children about the dangers of the internet
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying, I also have to second Gina's post. It is only through teaching and modeling respect that these students are going to overcome bullying. Regardless of what kind of monitoring we are doing it will always be reactive in nature. We must set the expectation that our students have respect for all people that they encounter.
ReplyDelete