Cyberbullying is no fun

Cyberbullying is harassing a person through digital technologies, whether it is through cell phones, blogs or social networking sites. There are many forms of cyberbullying including hacking into someone’s account and sending emails, cyber stalking someone, creating fake accounts to lure other people to them or creating entire websites devoted to hating a specific person. I do not have any experience with cyberbullying myself.

Schools are facing rise in cyberbullying. Students assume that when they are online they are anonymous, so a lot of things are done are things that they wouldn’t normally do. There are many legal issues with cyberbullying, including if the school has jurisdiction over what students do outside of school. Schools do have the right to discipline a student for cyberbullying, but they do not have to, nor do they normally choose to. The main issues being can schools police what students do when they leave school? If we are going to discipline for cyberbullying away from school, are we going to discipline students for fighting outside of school as well? Where is the line drawn? It’s a very complicated issue.

Students who are being cyberbullied are often angry after internet use. Some victims may become withdrawn and their academics may suffer. Another sign is students who are often tardy or absent from class or who are targeted by “school house” bullies. I think the school should step in and regulate if the cyberbullying is creating a hostile or unsafe classroom. It might be hard to find a student who is being cyberbullied, but I think if teachers listen and look out for the warning signs, it can be detected. Teachers need to ensure that their classes are safe places and if something outside of school is hindering safety, it needs to be addressed. I know that cyberbullying is a sort of sticky situation in terms of who has the legality to discipline, but the schools can step in and take preventative actions.

I think the most effective way schools can deal with cyberbullying is to have internet etiquette courses on a regular basis. I don’t think kids understand the ramifications of what they are doing, and if they are shown a sort of “cause and effect” they might think twice. In my own classroom, I will teach my students about respecting others online, ignoring “trolls”, and reporting cyberbullying to a trusted adult (not necessarily a teacher).

Personally, I’m a big believer in prevention. By teaching about cyberbullying and traditional bullying hopefully my students will be less likely to engage in that behavior. I will also have a cyberbullying awareness week. During this week we can focus lessons on online etiquette, getting to know other classmates and participating in teamwork activities. I think this should be a school wide event, as schools that have done this before have seen reduction in bullying. By focusing on actually getting to know their peers, students are less likely to engage in bullying.