Blog 7
This week’s module is all about Cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is becoming more prevalent as
students have increased access to the internet and social media. I have seen instances of Cyberbullying
occurring even at the elementary level as students are now able to use Google
Hangouts to contact each other outside of school hours using their school
issued devices.
One of the things that stood out to me the most in this
week’s readings is that students often fail to report Cyberbullying out of fear
that their devices/technology privileges will be taken away or restricted
(Faucher, Cassidy, & Jackson, 2015, p. 115). This is certainly understandable as that
would be the gut reaction of any teacher, administrator, or parent. It makes perfect sense to take away the
object that is allowing negative interactions.
However, this may have unintended negative consequences because students
will be less likely to report further Cyberbullying. I believe that educating students about appropriate
online interactions is the best way to address and prevent Cyberbullying.
I was surprised to learn that Cyberbullying at the K-12
level is closely related with traditional, in-person bullying. The Faucher, Cassidy, and Jackson article
cites two separate studies that found correlations between Cyberbullying and
traditional bullying, though the one by Olweus (2012) noted that traditional
bullying still has a much higher prevalence rate. Anti-bullying programs that target
traditional bullying could be expanded to address the topic of Cyberbullying,
thereby decreasing or preventing both types of bullying.
I am encouraged to find so many great online resources for
combatting Cyberbullying. I think that
including Cyberbullying in a unit on Digital Citizenship within the library
could be a great way for librarian’s to address this current issue. I was so excited by my discovery of Google’s
Interland game last week, that I have been sharing it with my 4th
and 5th grade students in the library this week. One of the “lands” in the game is Kindness
Kingdom, which teaches students about the importance of being kind online. I think that beginning these discussions at
an early age will hopefully curb future instances of Cyberbullying. Another source of Cyberbullying lessons,
Common Sense Media, looks to have great lesson plans that address this
topic.
I enjoyed exploring the Seven Digital Deadly Sins site. While it is not a resources that I could use
with my elementary students, it does give insight into the mindset of those who
commit “digital sins”. This background
knowledge should also be helpful as I have conversations about Digital
Citizenship and Cyberbullying with my students.
Good Evening Kristi,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct, cyberbullying is definitely seen more in the younger children now days, simply because they are being introduced to technology at a much younger age than we were. For example, just a few weeks ago, there was a report going around saying that "momo challenge". According to the reports, there was a strange person popping up on children's youtube videos and telling them that they were going to die, encouraging them to commit suicide etc. I have a two year old goddaughter that loves youtube. If I was to let her, she would be on her tablet all day. I say that to say, this is defintely a great example of cyberbullying and children at very young ages are experiencing it. In my opinion, google hangouts should be blocked in schools simply because this gives too much access to cyberbullying. Google hangouts does have great features, however, it is something that we can do without. I have to agree children that decide not to report cyberbullying is either scared they will get their priviledges taken or they are scared to be the "tattle teller". Regardless, I let my children know, if you don't speak up about the situation, you are at fault just like the other child. There are so many great resources on cyberbullying, which is why I believe I always enjoy teaching it to the students.Thanks for sharing this week!
Kristi,
ReplyDeleteCyberbullying is such a huge issue in our society and school system today. I have had many instances over my time teaching that were caused by cyberbullying. You mentioned that students use Google Hangouts to bully others, but in my experience it has been when students (who are to your for it) have Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat accounts. My feeling is that these apps have an age limit on purpose. The apps are not meant for students who are not mature digital citizens. In my opinions, this is what causes a lot of the issues online... not being mature enough!
Thank you so much for sharing the Interland resource! I agree that it’s important to have resources like this that we can use to introduce topics like digital citizenship to students at an early age. As librarians, we are fortunate to work with all students in our schools. This means that we get to watch them grow throughout their years at our schools. We should think of digital citizenship as a topic that we revisit regularly every year with our students so that each year we can add new meaning to their understanding of the topic.
ReplyDeleteIt amazed me to learn how much cyberbullying affects younger students. I have always worked with older students and my children are older, and if it was a problem for them in elementary school, I never knew it. I assumed that because younger kids don't usually have social media or phones that it wouldn't affect them as much, but I didn't think about iPads and Google Hangouts as ways younger students could encounter cyberbullying. It is so sad that kids might not feel like any place is safe with cyberbullying being possible anywhere and any time of day or night.
ReplyDelete~Kathryn
Kristi,
ReplyDeleteYour blog offers excellent points and references back to the readings. The most poignant part of your blog is the use of Google hangouts to bully classmates outside of school. It seems that no matter the limitations that are put on technology, that those that choose to bully will find a way to do so. That is why it is great to prepare students to deal with cyberbullying.
Thank you,
M. McCabe Rentz