Let's Stop Cyberbullying
As a kid I remember telling the mean kids “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”. That was far from the truth. Words can hurt. They can hurt your heart, your self-esteem, and your view of what you can accomplish. Too many bad words and negative thoughts can have devastating effects on a person. I can recall my mother’s voice in my head telling me that kids say things when they are angry to one another, but their words do not define who I am, I define who I am. But as a child it is so difficult to swim in the waters of adolescence and remain steadfast. Words did hurt, and as much as I wanted to block the words out, at times I could not. The good thing was that in my childhood there was no internet and kids did not have cell phones. Any gossip was word of mouth, disputes were settled in the school yard, and what happened was only seen by a few witnesses and forgotten over time. Today’s youth has a new battle and I believe a tougher one because they are in a world where cyberbullying exists.
As I researched information on cyberbullying, I found it surprising that it is extremely prevalent and typically peaks during middle school according to Sameer Hinduja from the Cyber Bullying Research Center. What was shocking to me was the number of children who have been bullied and those who admitted to bullying others. Hinduja noted the following in his 2020 Cyberbullying fact sheet that
“In our 2019 study of a nationally representative sample of approximately 5,0000 middle and high schoolers in the U.S., 36.5 percent said they had been cyberbullied during their lifetime, while 17.4 percent said they had been cyberbullied within the previous 30 days. With regard to offending, 14.8 percent revealed they had cyberbullied others during their lifetime, while 6.3 percent admitted doing so in the last 30 days”.
As an employee of a middle school this has
brought to my attention how necessary it is to educate our students on what
cyberbullying is, how to identify it, stop it, prevent it, and the
ramifications of it as a victim and engaging in it as a bully.
Following are my thoughts and ideas on how to address cyberbullying with my students within our school’s media center.
Classroom Lessons on Identifying, Prevention, and Ramifications of Cyberbullying
Students need to be taught what constitutes cyberbullying. One unfriendly text does not make you a bully but anything that is repetitive in a threatening or harassing manner to humiliate others is. Once cyberbullying is identified, educate students on ways to stop cyberbullying such as the tips provided in the following video, “Don’t respond or retaliate, Block the Bully, Save evidence, Report, and Tell a trusted adult”
In addition, students need to realize that there are ramifications of cyberbullying. The bully can be caught and receive discipline actions from parents and school administration. While a student may think they will not get caught because the actions are done online, they are mistaken. Digital footprints are left everywhere. Administrators can trace school issued devices, phone companies can locate records, and if necessary, professional experts can be called in to track a perpetrator down. State laws have been established Check out SC state laws to protect victims and in extreme cases bullies can face legal action and be prosecuted for their crimes. Students need to understand that there can be consequences. In addition, what is posted is out on the web for the long run and it can impact other people’s view of the poster negatively now and in the future.
Students also need to realize how what they do emotionally
impacts others and can impact themselves. For an example check out The Seven Digital Deadly Sins about a
young girl who trolled a fellow student and later regretted her decision to do
so. Expose students to real kids and how cyberbullying has affected them. Many
examples are available online. Check out Cyberbullying.org for ideas to implement in a lesson. The most shocking ramifications of cyberbullying
is the negative toll it can take on the person being assaulted. It can lead to
sadness, depression, isolation, and in extreme cases suicide.
Classroom Digital Citizenship Lesson
Technology is a tool not the villain. Students
need to be taught not only how to protect themselves while online but also how
to be thoughtful users on online platforms. They need to remember to treat
others how they want to be treated and to stay on the positive side while online
as demonstrated by Mark C. Eshleman in "Where are you?". This is an effective poetic example educating online users that they have a
choice in their actions to be a positive or negative influence. What they do is
up to them. Students must also remember to THINK (see image below) and
be respectful with what they post. As my mother told me “If you don’t have anything
nice to say, don’t say it at all”. While this sounds juvenile, it is sound
advice for all ages. Also be sure your school has a digital contract that students
and parents must both sign to acknowledge obedience to the school’s digital
citizenship rules. This will be essential to holding students accountable for
their actions.
Implementation of a Cyber Mentor Program
I would like to implement a program within the middle school I work in like Community High School District 99’s mentioned in the article, How It’s Done, by J. Orech. Middle schoolers could be paired up with a high school cyber mentor to discuss cyber bullying situations and how to react to them. For example, topics could include how to best handle bullying, options to responses, when to get an adult involved. They can engage in role play, students could be paired in groups to discuss how bullying makes them feel, how to react to it, what is and is not ok to post on social media accounts. Anyone can fill out a worksheet, let’s get kids actively engaged in demonstrating appropriate respectable behavior. Orech indicated the program demonstrated that middle school students showed empathy and were “willing to open up themselves, ask questions, and were truly interested in what the high school students had to say". These students connected to their mentors and trusted them, likely because they felt these older kids could understand much better than a teacher or other adult.
Create Cyberbullying Collection
Create a collection available to your students within your online library catalog featuring books and resources they can access on the topic. This way they can locate information quick and efficiently. For an example check out the following link which connects you to a collection I created in my school library Cyberbullying Collection.
Resource page accessible on Media Center
website
Students and parents need to have information easily accessible to them regarding cyberbullying. By having resources and links readily available to parents it will save them time from having to do the research themselves. Suggestion to include on your list.
https://www.brainpop.com/technology/communications/cyberbullying/
Post up a No Cyberbullying Policy
Within your library I suggest posting up a no
cyberbullying policy as a reminder to students that it will not be tolerated. I
suggest including action steps for a student to take if they feel like they are
being bullied as well as the location of resources for them view to obtain more
information.
There are a plethora of resources available to help librarians and educators alike assist students in identifying, handling, stopping, and preventing cyberbullying. It is our job to educate them to on digital citizenship, making good decisions with the use of technology, and the impacts of cyberbullying. We can be a positive influence to eradicate cyberbullying in our schools and communities.
References
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2020). Cyberbullying fact sheet: Identification, Prevention, and Response. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved from https://cyberbullying.org/Cyberbullying-Identification-Prevention-Response-2020.pdf
Orech,
J. (2012). How it’s done: Incorporating digital citizenship into your everyday
curriculum. Tech & Learning, 33(1),
16-18.
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