KEEPING STUDENTS SAFE CYBER BULLING AND ONLINE BEHAVIOR

KEEPING STUDENTS SAFE: CYBER BULLING AND ONLINE BEHAVIOR By Mackenzie Hemmerling

ISSUES OF CONCERN Teaching internet safety from a fear-based perspective Schools can sustaining bullying Rumors spread online Non-credible information Schools not teaching about cyber- safety

IN GROUPS… What do you as a teacher worry about most with student’s being online? What topic do you feel is the hardest to teach to students about online behavior?

CYBER BULLYING Bullying and harassment most often is done by peers Social network sites are frequently used in peer-topeer harassment Those at risk often already have difficulties in other parts of their life Kids can be anonymous Disinhibition – easier for people to gang up and bully individuals when it is not faceto-face

IN GROUPS… Share some examples of where you have seen cyber bullying or online harassment in your life. What do you think are ways that you can help your students be safe online even when they are not in the classroom?

PROPER ONLINE BEHAVIOR What we need to teach: Cyber bullying is unacceptable and students who are bullied should not reply to those messages, but should show an adult Why not to post personal information online Intellectual property – illegal downloading and proper citing

IN GROUPS… What are some other things you think are important that we need to teach students?

SOLUTIONS This training will do little to significantly reduce bullying problems We need to change the climate of the school and its exceptions for student behavior Support parents and the school- family connection We need to teach not only what’s wrong, but how to do what’s right

IN GROUPS… What are some ways that the school environment could easily change to help support anti-bullying in the school and online?

“The best way to train ethical, responsible, and resilient cybercitizens is to have ethical, responsible, and resilient teachers who are comfortable navigating the digital world. ” - Hancock, Randall, and Simpson in From Safety to Literacy: Digital Citizenship in the 21 st Century

SITES ON CYBER BULLYING AND ONLINE BEHAVIOR http: //www. stopbullying. gov/cyberbullying/ http: //cyberbullying. us/ http: //safekids. com/mcafee_harris. pdf http: //www. gctech. org/sites/gordoncooper/uploads/documents/Ap propriate_Online_Behavior. pdf

REFERENCES Solomon, Gwen (2010). Keeping students safe online: What works. MWS, 1 -13.