Cyber bullying involves the use of information and technology such as e-mail, instant messaging, the publishing of defamatory personal web sites, and online personal polling web sites that are used to support conscious, willful, deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by one or more people with the intent to harm others.
On-line harassment or threatening is Cyber bullying and it is on the rise.
“Am I hot or not?” It’s an Instagram game that is exploding on the Internet. Young girls around the age of 13 are posting photo of themselves on Instagram with #beautycontest, #rankme, #rateme and #amipretty hashtags and are looking for a quick virtual judgment of their beauty and in return they receive cruel or lewd comments that can damage their self-worth. Some of the photos are head shots and some are more risky, which are “sexting.” Obviously, these girls are not considering the privacy issue especially when hashtags are used or the variety of devastating comments this type of behavior solicits. Educators and parents made want to talk to their Instagramming kids and make them aware that the Internet is not a reliable place to seek self-worth or to post pictures to be rated by others.
(KCSS) Educate your students, teachers, and other staff members about cyber-bullying, its dangers, and what to do if someone is cyber-bullied.
(KCSS) Cyber-bullying can range from rude comments to lies, impersonations, and threats, therefore your responses may depend on the nature and severity of the cyber-bullying. Here are some actions that you may want to take after-the-fact.
(KCSS) Suggestions include: Updating Policies, Forming a Technology Abuse Committee, Professional Development, Teaching the Students, Informing the Parents, Monitoring Computer Usage and Evaluating Survey and Violation Data.
(KCSS) What to do if you are Cyber-bullied, How to Prevent being Cyber-bullied, and How to Prevent being a Cyber-bully.
(KCSS) Promotional Poster Encouraging Students to Surf Smart, Share Less, and Think First.
(KCSS) (From the Ad Council-YouTube videos)
The Kitchen (video) Writing Prompt (handout)
Talent Show (video) Writing Prompt (handout)
Bulletin Board (video) Writing Prompt (handout)
Everyone Knows Your Name (video) Writing Prompt (handout)
General Writing Prompt (handout)
Several schools have had issues with community bulletin board websites and the repercussions of the libelous comments spilling over into the instructional day. The Office of the Attorney General has developed a process to address one of the Internet Message Boards…Topix.com that has been successful at getting posts and forums removed within 48 hours for no charge.
DownloadGet all the tools you need with a FREE Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum and Parent Media Education Program. The relevant, ready-to-use instruction helps educators guide students to make safe, smart, and ethical decisions in the digital world where they live, study and play. Also, Common Sence Media has a feature called Digital Passport, which teaches and tests basics of online life for 5-8 grade. This site also has a list of “Websites to Stop Bullying Online“.
What is cyberbullying? How common is it? And what can teachers do about it? Get advice and resources to support your students. Also, when others see cyberbullying, what can they do? In these situations, people can be bystanders, allies, or upstanders.
Topics on this handout include: “The kind of threat”, “The frequency of the threats”, “The source of the threats” and “The nature of the threats”. (KCSS)
How to Stop Cyber-bullying on Popular Websites including MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and YouTube. (thinkuknow.org)
When looking at school safety in general, few (if any) would place cyber-bullying in the same category of fear as a school shooter or natural disaster. Cyber-bullying seems petty when compared to just about any school tragedy. (KCSS)
Topics on this handout include: “Shattering the Myths of Bullying”, “You Can Help”, “Who’s the Bully… Not My Child!”, and “Why don’t kids ask for help?” (KCSS)
Topics on this handout include: “Characteristics of those who bully,” “Alarming Stats,” “Characteristics of Victims,” and “Long-Term Effects of Bullying” (KCSS)
Protecting your personal information is of utmost importance. You don’t have to submit this information online for it to be there. Online directories and databases share this information freely.
Topics on this handout include: How to set a profile to private, only allowing friends to IM, page privacy control settings and MySpace Safety Tip Websites.
DownloadTopics on this handout include step-by-step instructions on canceling a MySpace account.
Download(When one student targets another online)
How can you prevent being cyber bullied?
How can you prevent miscommunication or becoming a cyber bully?
Questions before you post or send
It is always hurtful, sometimes unlawful and sometimes changes lives forever…
StopCyberbullying was the first cyberbullying prevention program in North America. Its specifically-trained young volunteers design and deliver community programs to help their peers address cyberbullying.
Learn MoreNetSmartz – Empower your students to be safer online with our free collection of teaching materials for students in grades K-12. With videos, lesson plans, games and more, NetSmartz can help you create a dynamic and engaging Internet safety curriculum.
The mission of Embrace Civility (former name was Embrace Civility in the Digital Age) is to provide guidance to caring adults so they can better engage young people to embrace civility and foster positive relations.
All schools, parents and students are struggling to address and contain the growing cyberbullying problem. While bullying itself is difficult to prevent, cyberbullying is much harder. It starts online and moves offline, or starts offline and moves online or starts and stays online.
Common Sense – Digital citizenship is more important than ever as students experience school virtually, in one form or another. Common Sense has a collection of short digital citizenship activities that students can complete independently, or with parents or caregivers.
NCMEC’s CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children.
The Cyberbullying Research Center is dedicated to providing up-to-date information about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents.
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content.
Emailing and chatting with friends are children’s most common online activities, after studying and playing games. But like many other social situations, some kids bully other kids online. The National Crime Prevention Council provides information and resources to help curb the growing problem of cyberbullying. (downloadable resources include brochures, podcasts, PSAs, etc.)
Advice from Common Sense Media editors. … Parental controls can support you in your efforts to keep your kids’ Internet experiences safe, fun, and productive.
Cyberbullying Research Center provides links and contact information to report abusive content on: Social Media, Messaging Services, Classifieds, Search Engines, Cell Phone Service Providers, Internet Service Providers and Gaming
Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center researched how cyber incidents affect education agencies and the steps they can take to respond – describing what schools can do before, during, and after an incident. This also includes the most common cyber threats to students, including cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying Research Center – A brief review of state cyberbullying laws and policies.
National Center for Education Statistics (November 2019) released three Data Point Reports entitled Students’ Perceptions of Bullying; Electronic Bullying: Online and by Text; and Student Perceptions of School Discipline and the Presence of Gangs or Guns at School. These reports examine the characteristics and school behaviors of students who report bullying online or by text; the extent to which students experiencing different components of bullying report their perceived relationship of bullying to the student’s personal characteristics; and how student perceptions of school discipline vary by student reports of their own behaviors in school and unfavorable school conditions experienced.