Cyberbullying is bullying using internet-based technology like email, myspace, facebook, or text-mesaging. I have not been a victim of cyberbullying, thank god. The only thing that comes to mind is that a friend once used email to tell me she thought I was being a” bad friend” (I’ll avoid inserting the appropriate explitive here.).
It can be tough for schools to deal with cyberbullying because it’s difficult to know when it’s happening. It isn’t as obvious as the old-school beating kids up type of bullying. Kids can be completely anonymous. Also, it’s super easy to torment quickly and unabatedly, and at an hour of the day. Simply speaking, technology is more efficient.
It’s difficult for school officials to regulate cyberbullying because of a few U.S.Supreme Court rulings that have taken place. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the verdict stated that schools can only regulate students’ freedom of speech if it causes a substantial interruption of school activities. In the Supreme Court Case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988), it was determined that schools can regulate students’ freedom of speech if it was at odds with the schools’ educational objectives. To complicate matters further, most cyberbullying happens on computers that are not on campus, so school officials cannot legally do anything.
In situations where schools can regulate students’ freedom of speech because the Tinker standards are upheld, schools must act. Cyberbullying and its punishments should be added to the school’s harassment policies. This is the only way a school can regulate off-site bullying. They should be sure to have a clear policy so that when appropriate, they can discipline, even if the action takes place off-site.
To increase awareness of cyberbullying, staff should be educated, along with students and parents. Everyone should be encouraged to report cyberbullying if it happens or if they hear anything about it.
In my classroom, I will make it a policy that any cyberbullying or suspicion of cyberbullying is reported to me. I will, on day one, make sure that my students know what cyberbullying is and how to deal with it. I will explain to them how serious it can be. If I find out about it, I will report it to school authorities as well as both sets of the students’ parents. I will then make sure the whole school knows that cyberbullying has been taking place, and reinforce the school’s policy and the seriousness of the situation.
Hi, I liked your post on this subject. It does seem like cyberbullying is really easy for kids to do because they can be annonymous. Even when people know that we can tell who is sending the message is it so easy to say things we would never say to their face. I do like that you plan on tackling this in your class. One thing that I am going to do is to tell my class that our classroom rules extend to how they treat each other on-line. That respect for one another does not stop at the school doors.
ReplyDeleteMiss Prehn,
ReplyDeleteGood post. I like your thoughts on educating staff, students, and parents. And covering the issue day one will provide a good dose of character education in the curriculum! ;0)
Thanks for your informative post.
I agree with all of your points! I especially think teachers should receive training about cyberbullying and how to be aware of it and how to handle it. And I think teachers should talk about it and address it in classrooms because it's definitely going on. I plan on doing that in my classroom and I'm glad you want to do that too :].
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