The thing that stands out to me about bullying and cyberbullying
is that adults are just as bad as children, if not worse. In the Seven Deadly
Sins video, “We Can Destroy You and That’s OK”, Jon Ronson described how easy
it was for him to get caught up in negative banter and public shaming on social
media. As he no longer shames people publicly, he’s written a book about it. What
struck me the most about the Seven Deadly Sins was that folks who are babyboomers,
and not millennials have fallen victim to cyberbullying and other internet sins.
Not to throw any political shade, but I can’t stand the constant
negative name calling and derogatory Tweets that bombard news feeds and the nightly
television news. Then, you have the negative comments, arguments, and opinions
that ensue that can get really ugly. My internet diet keeps me away from that
mess! Most of it is not worth the read or a response. As an educator, it’s a hard
pill to swallow when the adults, especially our political leaders, do not set a
good example for our children. And, some of them are the ones who have written
or voted for cyberbullying awareness or punishment of cyberbullying crimes. Faucher,
Cassidy, and Jackson (2015) researched the difference between bullying, harassment,
and cyberbullying in K-12, colleges, and the workplace, and found that it is
more than a school-age bullying issue. The authors noted that incivility was on
the low end of bullying but had the potential to fester into a much larger
problem.
As a parent, I felt it was my job to learn how to monitor
and protect my children’s on-line behavior to the best of my ability, and that
included using on-line parental controls way back during the time of having a
dial up internet service! I also took upon myself to learn about and set up
digital monitoring software on our home computer, which was placed in an open
spot in the house. I communicated and questioned my sons about some of the
inappropriate screen names that some of their “so-called digital friends” had
which I sometimes felt inappropriate. Before colleges and potential employers
started scouring the internet, I discussed with them what they should and
shouldn’t share, and occasionally I still put my two cents in about a post that
I think is unflattering!
As an educator, it’s not only my obligation to teach the students
about being a good digital citizen, but also the parents. Parents,
grandparents, and guardians are providing technology to children without
realizing that they need to be taught the rules of this super highway. Just
like learning how to drive a real car, there are ruts in the road and one needs
to learn how to avoid them, if at all possible. As educators, we must teach civics and digital
citizenship before we start expecting students to use technology at school,
starting in elementary school. Teaching civility and empathy is not a one and done
type deal. It must be revisited and employed often within our regular classroom
instruction. This year, the STEM Instructional Coach put together some digital
citizenship lessons and a presentation, which she had me narrate. The lessons require
the students to regularly reflect and respond in their STEM Advisory journals
after each lesson. The culminating activity will be to produce a poster to hang
in their Advisory Classroom.
As the school communications liaison and media specialist, I will share two parental
digital awareness sources with parents via the school’s social media sites and
my library web page, which will include Digital Awareness for Parents
from Stopbullying.gov and PC Magazine’s informative article and reviews of The Best Parent Control Software for 2019 (Rubinking & Moore). I will also share Top Ten Tips for Teens with
the students and parents and encourage they discuss the tips and strategies presented in an easy to understand format. Parents and guardians need to be provided with
the necessary tools to help curb cyberbullying, which typically takes place
away from school.
Sources:
Faucher, Cassidy & Jackson.
(2015). From the sandbox to the inbox: Comparing the acts, impacts, and solutions
of bullying in K-12, higher education, and the workplace. Journal of Education and Training Studies. doi: https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v3i6.1033
Hinduja & Patchin. (2018).
Standing up to cyberbullying: Top ten tips for teens. Retrieved from https://cyberbullying.org/standing-up-to-cyberbullying-tips-for-teens.pdf
Digital awareness for parents.
(2017). Stopbullying.gov. Retrieved from https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/digital-awareness-for-parents/index.html
Rubinking & Moore (2019). The best
parent control software for 2019. PC Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/240282/the-best-parental-control-software
