Digital Citizenship - Cyberbullying

Cyber-bullying, any kind of bullying is near and dear to my heart.

This past week, we witnessed yet another tragedy in a school.  What sparks a 14 year old boy to take a gun to school and shoot his own family members and fellow students?  This is only the latest scene in a long episode of school violence.  Strangely, we don't hear about this much workplace violence.

To compare:
Children are assigned to a school and classroom.  They do not feel empowered to change their situation.
Workers agree to go to their workplace and do their job.  Anytime they find it unbearable, they can decline to return.

Children are often afraid to "tell" about a bully because they cannot see anything an adult could do to protect them.
Workers have a well-defined HR department who are trained to handle these problems.  The HR department has a strong backbone and will fire any threat to the workplace.

Children are already struggling with changing bodies and changing hormones.  They are often very cruel to one another in an effort to feel better about themselves or to establish a pecking order for stability.  (My theory).
Workers are usually mature and understand the changes that might be happening to their bodies, if any.

I enjoyed the article and curriculum:

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/lesson/cyberbullying-be-upstanding-6-8

https://d2e111jq13me73.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/uploads/classroom_curriculum/6-8-unit1-cyberbullyingbeupstanding.pdf

Not only does it address things that you don't say about another child, but it also shows how the issue spreads and how other well-meaning children can be helpful rather than adding fuel to the fire.

In my youngest, Ashlee's, 8th grade year, she had a rather abusive friend.  I admit that I did not think very highly of this young lady.  Other girls at the school started a special Facebook page "I Hate R*****."  They made my daughter the moderator against her wishes.  Ashlee came to me with the problem.  We were able to contact the superintendent and principal and they handled the matter properly and quietly.  The damage was done, but perhaps not as much as would have been.

A book I also recommend is titled "19 Minutes" by Judi Picoult.  It really struck a chord with me because I was the object of torment, teasing, and bullying.  I'm a little weird, didn't dress like other kids, wasn't allowed to wear makeup, had a serious acne problem, thick glasses, and my typical butch haircut.  During that short frame in high school (I lasted 6 months), I became suicidal and very withdrawn.  I have never gotten over the depression that started at that time.  Although I would never have dreamed of shooting people at school, I certainly dreamed of shooting myself and other means of death.  We didn't even have Facebook back then, and my BBS friends were just as nerdy as me.

My moral to the class is: Stop bullying.  The life you save might be your own!!!  And teachers, be aware of what is happening with your students.  Be supportive and be a listening ear.  Make sure your students feel empowered to change their circumstances when they become unendurable.