- Be Aware of What Your Kids are Doing Online
- Establish Rules about Technology Use
- Understand School Rules
The cyberbullying research center has a wide range of tips for parents, teachers, teens, child victims, and adult victims. There is also a whole section on different presentation to watch and educate people of all ages about cyberbullying. These two websites work well for your students to explore in the classroom and talk about with each other. Maybe it will make some of them think about what they do online and how they talk to others.
The end to cyberbullying website is also a great resource for parents, it gives great advice and steps to take to prevent it and keep your children safe.
The American Society for the Positive Care of Children also has a great website that gives bullying statistics and information about bullying in general.
The kids helpline website is really great place to kids to talk to adults in a safe setting about cyber bullying. This website was my favorite because you can call to get advice about anything you are having trouble with.
Do you think schools are responsible for cyber bullying outside of school, or only during school hours? What about if they use school property during non-school hours?
ReplyDeleteI ask because I reported one of my students for cyber bullying a stranger on YouTube, but the school did not do much because it was done on another computer.
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ReplyDeleteI think that each incident may be so different, it depends. I definitely think that if school property was involved the school is well within its bounds to intervene and take action with the student. Growing up my school was involved in matters that happened outside of school as well as in school. Also, this students behavior will most likely affect his or her behavior towards others in school.
ReplyDeleteI really agree that cyberbullying is a big problem. I know that there are a lot of different ways to approach it but I wanted to be a bit of a devil's advocate on the "know what your kids are doing on the computer". Yes it is always good to know what your kids are up to and whether they are being bullied or are the bullies themselves I feel like there could be a fine line between knowledgeable and overly nosy. I think that kids do need their privacy to a degree without being overly paranoid about bullying. I feel that if we front load prevention to teach students about how to not become a bully or how to stand up for themselves on every platform of bullying.
ReplyDeleteBrittany- Growing up my school was involved with things outside of school as well. That may only be with smaller schools though, I feel like in larger schools it is harder to be as attentive. Was your school small or big? It if is big that would prove my whole theory wrong.
ReplyDeleteJackie- I agree with you stance on kids needing privacy, and also think it would be impossible to really monitor that sort of stuff. A lot of bullying happens over social media. I think part of front loading would deal with teaching empathy to students. Unfortunately, middle school/ early high school students sometimes have a hard time thinking beyond themselves. Unfortuntaley, I think bullying will always be present to some extent.
Jackie- I agree, in my head Im thinking about how growing up as a kid in public school I was bullied (along with every other kid in the world at least a few times) and how it really made me the person I am today. Im not saying that bullying is necessary to become an adult but it is so common there is no way to fully stop it. There are also some fine lines within bullying that can't be crossed.
ReplyDeleteMelissa- I did go to a very small school! I graduated with 24 students and we had less than 300 kids pre K -12th. Everyone knew everyones business in our town which served as both a blessing and a curse at times. It was so easy for our teachers and other students parents to know what was going on in everyone else personal life, I guess it would be hard not to separate the them from school life.
ReplyDeleteI also went to a small school. So I can relate to that small school community feeling. You know everyone, and their parents, grandparents, Etc. :)
DeleteI think it is sometimes hard for schools to get involved with things that happen outside their walls. There could be legal issues or they may not what to go off of hear-say from other students without knowing the whole situation. Parents may or may not want the school to get involved if they think that it isn't their business. I feel that it is probably hard for schools to deal with it unless their is protocols in place that specify what should happen in certain situations.
ReplyDeleteAlso along the lines of bullying in general, I feel too that bullying will never fully go away. It would be a fools dream like world peace, not going to happen. But yes, Melissa I think that teaching empathy would be useful. I see that in early elementary everyone is friendly, then middle/high school that's when kids get mean, and then in college a lot of times students really understand the harm in it and have different views then their own little worlds.
You make a great point about the legal part of the situation. Schools can't just butt in if they are not involved. It gets tricky with the protection of students though. If school is how they are connected, the administration almost has to get involved. I think in the future they will include cyber bullying in the honor code/contract kids sign, if they haven't already. In that case schools would have every right to expel kids who are not living up to the code of conduct.
DeleteThat's why teachers have students and parents sign Codes and AUPs (Acceptable Use Policies for technology). If there's an issue and someone complains, the district can point to their signature.
DeleteLegally, though, you're correct; it is a gray area. There's a statement in school law that says something like, "...conduct detrimental to the educational process," that could apply to cyberbullying that occurs outside of school hours and not on school networks.
I like the whole code of conduct point. It's like when you are out on a school event like a field trip or a game and the teacher tells the class to behave because they are representing the school out in the public. Or even watching a school game as a spectator and another school, you are always representing the school you go to, so how is that any different than how kids act online?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of codes of conduct and including the internet and things they do out in the community. That might help students to understand that they are responsible for their actions and since they spend a great span of time in schools they can learn the qualities of a good citizen.
ReplyDeleteYes, and with technology growing more and more it will become even more predominant in each students life in and out of school.
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