CyberBulling

There is always bad where there is good. Always darkness with light. As with anything in our lives, technology can be used FOR us and AGAINST us. Cyber bullying is one more aspect of student life that is different than it was in the past. Because I am a “Digital Native” cyber bullying is no new concept to me. I still have emails that were sent to me saved from middle school that would qualify as cyber bullying by today’s standards. Cyber bullying is described as “the use of internet technology to inflict emotional harm through repeated and deliberate harassment, threats, and intimidation. […] The technology used for cyber bulling typically includes email, cell phones, chat rooms, blogs, social networking sites, and instant messages” (Taylor, p. 60). Based on my own experiences, the most popular forms of cyber bullying are via social networking sites, emails, instant message (IM) and text messages. Because communicating through technology is so easy, and often very “impersonal” some students use it as their main form of communication--especially if they have something distasteful to say.
Students tend to believe that they are somehow “protected” through this media and in many ways they are. Schools are limited to what they can and cannot do in response to cyber bullying. One reason for this is that the majority of cyber bulyling occurs after school hours and off campus---which tends to be out of a school’s jurisdiction. Schools cannot restrict what students say to one another outside of school even if it is distasteful or offensive. Students have free speech rights as do the rest of Americans. In Taylor’s article, she writes that “there must be some compelling educational objective that justifies restricting the speech, or the speech must be a threat to school safety or to campus environment conducive to learning” (p. 62). This makes it very hard, if not impossible, for teachers to interfere with student cyber bullying. As a coach, I have had to deal with cyber bullying before. At our first football game of the season, one of my cheerleaders was being harassed by an ex-boyfriend’s new and jealous girlfriend via text messages. Of course, the cheerleaders do not have their phones on them while they are cheering but, as you could imagine, they run to them every quarter or half-time break to catch up on their texts. I noticed that one of my captains was starting to cry as she went back to her position on the track. She was visibly upset so I called her over and asked her what was wrong. She told me that a girl in the crowd had been sending her texts throughout the game that were extremely offensive, inappropriate and threatening. We talked to the game security and told him what had been going on. He looked at the texts and decided to talk to the other girl and explain to her that what she was doing was harassment and that she had to leave the premise for the remainder of the night.
Sadly, bullying is part of life---it was here before technology and it will remain. I think it is unfortunate that anyone should have to endure these kinds of attacks and, as a teacher, I will strive to ensure my students’ dignity, safety and well-being. I feel as though any kind of bullying or harassment must be taken seriously and not overlooked. As we have learned from far too many cases, bulyling often leads to more serious offenses such as physical violence. I think the best way to prevent bullying of any kind is to teach awareness and strive to make our students empathetic and caring individuals. Inform students of the effects of bullying and the consequences that can follow. By setting a good example, teaching kindness, and having zero-tolerance for bullying behavior, I think teachers can at least decrease if not erase bullying from their classrooms and schools.