Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of electronics. This could be text messages, blogs, instant messaging or post on a social networking site. Those are just a few examples and daily there are more and more methods of cyberbullying getting tried out.
I am lucky that I have not been cyberbullied yet. My torment as a youth came in the form of face to face encounters. Because, the individuals who wanted to cause me emotional harm did it face to face I had an opportunity to defend myself. I would often become physical and thus as I got older started to deter this crul behavior I encountered. Unfortunately many students today are too scared to confront their bullies or have no means to because it is cyber.
The really frustrating part of cyber bullying is that it can happen anywhere and it is easy to hide from teachers and family. Many children are embarassed to show the aweful things classmates have to say about them online or through text messaging. This just means that educators and parents have to stay more alert and proactive. As a teacher I will have a very clear set of rules addressing cyberbullying. Students will know that if I find or suspect there is cyberbullying I will report them. All of my online assignments will have a zero tollerence policy for negative remarks. All students will read through the school bullying policy and discuss its application to electronics in my class.
Luckily schools are starting to stay up to date with technology more and more. As a result many districts are creating policies to address things such as cyberbullying. It is hard to define a line of what involves the school and what doesn't. In my own beliefs I think that the schools should be able to take action on anything that effects another students learning. For example if a students receives a text message with a death threat on the weekend, the school should be able to take action against the text sender.
Bullying is an epidemic. As a teacher I will do whatever I can to prevent any type of bullying from happening in or out of my classroom.
Liz, you made a good point about how teachers need to be alert and proactive. Cyberbullying can be difficult to detect, especially when students are embarrassed and afraid to ask for help. I think setting clear ground rules (zero tolerance) will be an effective way to prevent cyberbullying.
ReplyDelete