Bullying is define as using physical strength or influence to force others to do things they don't want to do, name calling, making fun of, or put-downing others, so bullying take a form of physical, verbal, or mental abuse. Bullying affects children well-being, they don't feel secure and can't learn because of the fear of bullying or lack of concentration. It also promotes more violence. With the rapid increase of technology, cyber-bullying has emerge. This negative influence takes place online when children are using social networks, email, interactive technologies, or cellphones. Statistics found on how-to-stop-bullying.com are alarming to how many students are being affected by this trend.
- 77% if students are being bullied
- 14% of those reacted to the abuse in some severe way, like attempt of suicide, shooting,
- 1 out of 5 students admit to have being a bully
- 160,000 students miss school because of bullying taking place
- 100,000 students carry a gun to school
- 53% have been cyber-bullied
- 58% won't tell an adult if they are being bullied
As educators, it is important we look out for signs and disapprove this type of actions immediately. It is encouraged to implement several techniques against bullying during instruction. Some of these techniques include:
- Demonstrate positive behavior
- Teach social skills
- Teach courtesy skills
Here is a video of what is and how we can prevent bullying:
As you heard in this video, you can go to http://kamaron.org/Bullying-Solutions and click on Bullying Solutions to get more useful tips on how to stop this pandemic. We want to make schools more inviting and secure students safety needs. They will not learn if basic level needs are not met first.
See you later, virtually!
-Becky
References
Kamaron Institute. Bullying Solutions. Retrieved from http://kamaron.org/Bullying-Solutions.
(2009)How to Stop Bullying Stop the Harassment Before it Causes Permanent Damage. Retrieved from http://www.how-to-stop-bullying.com/index.html
YouTube(2009). Stop Cyber Bullying - How. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/ck-OIP6nwLo.
You bring up some very good points about cyber bullying. Back in the day students use to be able to be safe in their homes and at least they had a way to get away from the bullies. Not in today's day and age when everyone is connected in so many different ways. Bully's now can attack our students through cell phones, social media, and instant messaging. A student who is being bullied, really has no way of getting away from it if is happening in cyberspace.
ReplyDeleteThe crazy part is. Even if the parents try and move the student away or move them to a different school they still might not get away from it. It really just depends on how far the bully really wants to take it. Here are some very good actions to take if your child is being bullied and what things parents should tell their child how to react to an online bully.
Take action if your child is being bullied online:
• Watch out for signs that your child is being bullied online – a reluctance to use the computer or go to school may be an indication.
• If the bully is a student at your child's school, meet with school officials and ask for help in resolving the situation.
• Report online bullying to your Internet or cell phone service provider. Most companies have Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) that clearly define privileges and guidelines for those using their services, and the actions that can be taken if those guidelines are violated. They should be able to respond to reports of cyberbullying over their networks, or help you track down the appropriate service provider to respond to.
• Report incidents of online harassment and physical threats to your local police. Some forms of online bullying are considered criminal acts. For example: under the Criminal Code of Canada, it is a crime to communicate repeatedly with someone if your communication causes them to fear for their own safety or the safety of others.
• It's also a crime to publish a "defamatory libel" – writing something that is designed to insult a person or likely to injure a person's reputation by exposing him or her to hatred, contempt or ridicule. ("Cyberbullying," 2010)
Parents should also teach their kids how to react to an online bully:
• Stop: leave the area or stop the activity (i.e. chat room, online game, instant messaging, social networking site, etc.).
• Block the sender's messages. Never reply to harassing messages.
• Talk to an adult. If the bullying includes physical threats, tell the police as well.
• Save any harassing messages and forward them to your Internet Service Provider (i.e. Hotmail or gmail). Most service providers have appropriate use policies that restrict users from harassing others over the Internet – and that includes kids! ("Cyberbullying")
Reference
Cyberbullying. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.bewebaware.ca/english/cyberbullying.html
During my student teaching assignment last semester, we had several incidents of cyperbullying. One student with her mother's help created a website to bash other students in the class. It was a serious situation since it involved ALL students in the grade. The counselors responded by contacting the parents and the website was taken down that afternoon. What I thought was effective in teaching the seriousness of the situation in school was the video that the counselor created. It was clips of different news stories about cyperbullying and their effects. It was so emotional that most students cried the entire day. I believe that you really have to tap into the emotions of the students to get them to understand how serious bullying can be. You have to fight technology with technology.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I find some unbelievable statistic. More than half of students report being cyber-bullied? I am going to definitely use technology to take a poll in each of my classes where other students won't know individual responses.
ReplyDeleteI going to simply ask "Have you ever been cyber-bullied?"
Then if you can recommend a slide listing what you feel is pertinent so students know for sure what cyber-bullying is, I'd like to present that info and then ask, "Has any of these things happened to you?"
I'd really like to see both sets of results and see if my sample is anywhere close to 50%.
Years ago my daughter was a victim of cyberbulling when it first hit the scene with AOL IM. At that time it was not at the forefront and although she would complain my response would be, “it is just the internet.” Boy was I wrong because she then became afraid to attend dance class that is when I knew that I had to intervene. My daughter’s dance instructor was very proactive and thankfully everything was solved before matters grew out of control. I commend you as a teaching in letting your student know that we must celebrate differences in others.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blog!