Learning with Technology - ISTE 5 Post

ISTE 5: Digital Citizenship

Relevant question: What is cyberbullying, and how can I talk to my students about it?

To be perfectly frank, this isn't a topic that lends itself easily to the anachronistic, technophobic atmosphere present in most history classrooms. But it is a very important topic to discuss with students, particularly as they reach an age where their parents allow them to have a Facebook account, and to become less supervised in their digital explorations. What I'm trying to say is that I think it's important to sit kids down and explain both what cyberbullying is, and how it can be hurtful, when they're in middle school or are starting high school.

Let's start by defining cyberbullying. According to the government website stopbullying.gov, "bullying that takes place using electronic technology." That technology can be physical, or it can exist as part of the internet - whether it's by cellphone or by Facebook or Twitter, if it is bullying and involves technology, it's cyberbullying.

How to talk to kids about cyberbullying is a little trickier. Because the internet offers kids a degree of safety in their bullying because of the physical distance and, sometimes, anonymity it provides, cyberbullying can get more vicious, and can be scarier to kids, than other more conventional forms of bullying. Add in the fact that cyberbullying can be done by adults, and is often not within the purview of a school to punish, and cyberbullies can get very scary and very out of control, very fast. All this makes it harder to talk to kids about, because the scarier a thing is, sometimes the less likely, and less willing, kids are to discuss it with a grown-up. Also kids entering their teens tend to want to handle problems on their own, and so are doubly less likely to consult or alert an adult to a problem like cyberbullying.

Which brings us to, how do you talk about cyberbullying with students? And how do you get them to tell you, if there is a cyberbullying problem?
Admittedly, I've never had this conversation with a student. But I have talked with students about other bullying problems, so I don't feel totally clueless. At any rate, here's my two cents. I think there are two important things a teacher can do, to talk to kids about cyberbullying.
First and foremost: Get to know your kids. The more you know them, the more they'll get to know you - and the more comfortable they will be with telling you things that are going on in their lives. That'll range from who they're crushing on to how annoying your fellow teacher is, but it will also include social conundrums like bullying and cyberbullying. Make it clear to kids from the beginning that if there is a problem (of any kind, but of the cyberbullying variety too), you are a person they can trust and can come talk to. Flat-out say it, at the beginning of the school year.
Second: Make a point of setting aside some time in your class to discuss what bullying and cyberbullying are. Sometimes kids find themselves in situations and don't know what's going on, or how wrong it is. Get the kids to talk about it - chances are they've heard of cases where it happened or have themselves experienced it. Use the examples to point out when a kid should bring an adult in on the situation, and be sure to give examples of what you could do, as an adult, to help.

**Note: While it's important to teach what cyberbullying is, and to encourage students to report it, it's just as important to teach students how to interact on social media and using technology in a way that is *not* cyberbullying. In other words, students need to learn proper nettiquete. I feel that this is an important topic, which deserves its own blog post, which is why it's not discussed here.