Blog Post #3. Cyberbullying
Many pieces of information really stuck out to me after watching the YouTube film “Dark Cloud: the High Cost of Cyberbullying.” The film stars off by showing a montage of young students explaining how they are actively experiencing bullying via the internet. When Justin Preston, the founder of Rise Against Bullying, shared his bullying story on the internet, he said that was shocked to learn that so many people can relate to what he went through. At the time of his post, in the early 2010’s bullying was something that many people experienced, but not talked about. The film later introduced the mother of Amanda Todd, a victim of cyberbullying. Carol Todd is an advocate for cyberbullying awareness and she shares her daughter Amanda’s story in hopes to bring attention to this serious issue. Amanda unfortunately committed suicide after a picture of her without a shirt on surfaced on the internet. She was preyed on by an older man who later leaked the photo. Carol explained how she was hesitant to talk to her daughter and see how she was coping with the bullying she faced from classmates, and if she was contemplating suicide. Unfortunately she regrets not discussing this with her because she believed that maybe this could have helped Amanda instead of unfortunately hurting her. This video was a surreal experience for me because it really shows the firsthand accounts of students who face this brutal harassment on a daily basis, from the moment they wake up and check their phone, till the moment they put it down.
Something that I had learned while watching is that this kind of bullying is something that builds over time. It’s not just one or two incidents that happen, it’s multiple building on top of each other. The problem with young children using technology is that they can be connected 24/7. Traditional bullying, ( before technology) typically took place to, during, and from school. In most cases, the victim got somewhat of a break when he or she was in the safety of their own home. Now, a cyberbullying victim will get harassed before, during, and after school, throughout all hours of the night. One girl from the film even explained how Saturday nights were particularly difficult for her because her bullies would have a sleep over and send her cruel messages all hours throughout the night. This constant and relentless harassment is devastating to children and their self esteem.
The article “ Tips for Teachers, Warning Signs a Child is being Cyberbullied or is Cyberbullying” made me really evaluate how I will handle the issue of cyberbullying in my classroom. The main component I took away from the video is that anybody can experience cyberbullying. The video shared many different accounts of many different victims and they all mentioned that it can happen to anyone. This makes the job of the teacher even harder when trying to identify bullies and victims. In my classroom, I will constantly be observant to my students behaviors. Since cyberbullying is a slow process, if I notice gradual changes in an individuals behavior I will be sure to check in with the student to get a closer look as to what is going on. I also learned in this article, as a teacher I can be an advocate for a struggling student, and some steps I can take to be their voice is to speak to their parents, and notify administration about any situations that need to be addressed. I will also be including reflection activities that build awareness to my students of how they are feeling and what they say and do can affect others in ways we may not fully understand. I also do feel that this is important because a student may not know that their lighthearted teasing may really bother or hurt a fellow classmate.
The article “ Teachers Essential Guide to Cyberbullying Prevention” taught me that different methods of explaining cyberbullying apply differently to different age groups. Especially now, children as young as toddlers are exposed to technology such as iPads. Even elementary schoolers now have phones to communicate with friends via social media. Although I am not looking to teach little kids, I still believe it is important for teachers to explain in an age appropriate way the harmful impact that words have on our classmates, and the dangers of social media. Two things I think that children can handle is learning how to be an upstander, and stand up for yourself or a classmate in need, and how to handle a situation if you are being bullied online. Although theses topics are brief, I feel like most children will be able to grasp these ideas and this will further improve their interactions online.
The article “Cyberbullying and Teenagers”by Reachout.com taught me how I can effectively talk to teenagers about cyberbullying. Many teens may feel embarrassed as victims, but by talking about it may make them more inclined to come forward in search of help. By explaining to teenagers that what you post on the internet will last forever, and can be seen by anyone will increase their awareness and maybe will make them more inclined to think twice before posting content. Also, by simply reinforcing the idea that they do have a support system within the school, including myself as the teacher, can also make students feel more comfortable and safe within my classroom.
As a student myself, I understand the struggles and hardships that myself, my classmates, and students in general face on a daily basis in schools. By creating a safe space and having the ability to recognize red flags in behaviors will increase the odds of a student reaching out for help. If a teacher projects themselves to take issues, ( specifically cyberbullying) seriously, the students will be more open to taking these issues seriously as well. I will make if my job to be extremely observant in my students behavior, and to take immediate action if I see an issue that needs to be addressed. On a lighter note, the film also showed how kindness hearts with uplifting messages written on the tag are spread all over the world to show people that they are loved and that they matter is a beautiful way to uplift people. I feel that a way I can incorporate this idea into my classroom could be leaving a positive note on a students desk once a week, and spreading positive quotes around my classroom. Also, before class starts I can have a positive inspirational quote on the board to begin the class discussion. Sometimes small things can make a big difference as well!
References
Cyberbullying and teenagers. ReachOut Parents. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://parents.au.reachout.com/common-concerns/everyday-issues/cyberbullying-and-teenagers
Dupej, H. & Embry, M. (2020. Dark cloud: The high cost of cyberbullying. TELUS Wise.
Facebook.com/theinspiringjournal. (2021, October 12). 82 motivational quotes for students. The Inspiring Journal. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.theinspiringjournal.com/82-motivational-quotes-for-students/
Tips for Teachers: Warning Signs a Child is Being Cyberbullied or is Cyberbullying. (2021, May 21). stopbullying.gov. https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/tips-for-teachers
Wilkey Oh, E. (2019, March 25). Teachers' Essential Guide to Cyberbullying Prevention. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/teachers-essential-guide-to-cyberbullying-prevention
Hi Diana! I really enjoyed reading this blog post because I had similar ideas towards the topic of cyberbullying. I agree that teenagers can often feel embarrassed and are typically hesitant when it comes to voicing difficulties they are facing, such as cyberbullying. I felt like throughout this whole course so far I have seen in every issue that high school aged students can feel like this about pretty much anything going on in their lives. When we talked about homelessness, I found so many articles about how teens dealing with this often keep that information inside them out of embarrassment since they don't want others to correlate them with the stereotypes that come with being homeless. I think it is super important that as teachers we don't act as though we are superior, authority figures to our students, and instead, we make them feel comfortable around us as this would cause them to feel comfortable telling us these things they are going through. I also loved your idea of leaving a positive note on a students desk as it is so true that little things like that can make a huge difference! I found an article when writing my blog on this topic where a teacher used social media in her classroom as a learning tool, and I thought that was another great idea since it shows students that social media can be used for many different and positive things. I think it is super important that we all share our ideas since it is super likely that we will all use them one day. Great blog!
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