Cyber Bulling

It is sad how prominent bullying is in general. It is also sad that it is a real thing that students suffer. I think parents should be checking in with their kiddos and seeing what they are doing on the internet and discussing their interests with them. I don't think parents should control students passwords and accounts to the extreme but being aware for sure. That way if something like bullying is occurring they can reflect and problem solve on it together. I think the digital citizenship trainings is a great place to start. I think each grade level should focus on a different component of digital citizenship and it can be district wide even if it is just a 10 minute focus once a week.

My school district had a digital citizen training night where they discussed with students and families how important it is to be mindful of your online identity and how it leaves an ever lasting impact. My principal says you are creating an icon you want others to see. What is it you want to portray to others?

I can see how easy it is to cyber bully. I was never apart of it nor have I seen it but it is so easy to instant message somebody or post something without thinking it through. The positive thing about cyber bullying is the victims have more time to come up with a response or they may chose not to respond. They have more time to reflect on the comment and get advice from others if needed. The sad part about cyber bulling is it can be made so public and cover a large area of people very quickly. I could see how many would be hesitant to cyber bully because their is evidence to show what you did but in person face to face it is a lot harder to prove something it is more of taking one persons word over another if they are not telling the truth.

Bullying in general is an issue it isn't only online but more commonly face-to-face. We need to teach our children and students the importance of being kind and respectful to others as well as how to stand up for ourselves in a respectful way. We need to teach them the signs of bullying what to do if they are being bullied and how to report it. Cyber bullying alone is not the issue but hopefully teaching digital citizenship and building respectful relationships can keep our students out of a possible bad situation.

#cyberbully #digitalcitizen