Session 7 Discussion

[Clinton]

After reading through the cyber bullying material from the Session 7
Wiki page and viewing the short videos, has your idea of cyber
bullying changed at all? Did this information broaden your knowledge
of this topic?
What impact does cyber bullying have on the classroom? Have you seen
first-hand the impact of cyber bullying in your classroom, if so, and
if you can, please share examples?
What are some strategies that you can use in your classroom to reduce
cyber bullying and it's impact on the classroom environment?

[Peggy]

Wow! Those video clips were something. A whole lesson could be built
around each one. It was amazing on how many levels the kitchen scene
shows the victim being attacked. The StopCyberbullying website had
loads of info but as I toured I became overwhelmed by the enormity of
the problem. Teh Pew research backed this up with so many students
saying they had been involved in cyberbullying either as a victim or
bully. It is hard to realize how horribly mean children can be to each
other. The lack of consequenses due to removal of having to face a
person and see the hurt that one can cause as well as the general lack
of care for others in general is very complicated to fight. Somehow we
need to get back to a "Do unto others" philosophy that we seem to have
lost in our more modern society. Cyberbullying can have a direct
impact on my classroom. A student who is the victim and going through
this would be much less likely to be able to focus on any kind of
school work or homework with these kinds of put downs hanging over
their head. It is also not possible to separate the cyberbullying from
day to day living. It seems if you are being bullied online then you
are also being bullied just by seeing people that you know or suspect
are the perpetrators or know of the picture or put down, even if they
are not directly involved in supporting it. Add cyberbullying to other
homelife problems that I know some of my students have and it is a
wonder they fucntion at all ever. I am not aware at present of any
examples that I can share, but I firmly believe that I have students
who are experiencing bullying. It is spring in 6th grade and hormones
are raging and there are changing social patterns between the girls
( by the minute), the boys (weekly), and the girls and the boys
(hourly). Since we have this in school, I must believe it is happening
online when they depart. I was interested in the legal ramifications
that were mentioned by the StopBullying website and the fact that
districts that disciplined for actions that were not done with school
property during school hours lost law suits and paid lots of money.
The site warned to get excellent legel advice in writing acceptable
use policies that could cover the school getting involved in
cyberbullying incidents that don't fit the normal school parameters.
It is one scary place out there.

[Melissa C]

No one I know has ever been a victim of cyber bullying. I've never
really given
it much thought. I am aware that it happens often and the frequency
is always
increasing. The videos were very power. The articles
that we have to read often become overwhelming to me. They contain so
much info.
and so many other links to go to. I can easily get lost. The videos
really said a lot to me.
I would hope that they would be as powerful to the students who are
actually living through
the times of cyber bulling. It continues to amaze me how much taking
the face to face
factor out of interactions creates an entirely new way of
communicating. It allows for
so much anonymity. People don't have to take responsibility for their
actions. Consequences
don't even seem to exist.
It is always hard for me to reflect back on my classroom. They only
access my
multi-handicapped students have to the computer is through software
that I provide.
The articles point out the many different ways a student can
connected. Many of
those ways are not visible to teacher or even parents. I always seem
to come back
to the only things you can do to keep your children safe
are...educated yourself, model appropriate
computer usage, monitor your child's computer usage and hope for the
best!!!!!

[Duane]

Deb Wheeland and I have chose cyberbullying/cyber harassment as our
group project. After watching the videos and reading the reports it
is hard to believe that kids can be this cruel to each other. The old
saying "Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt
me" is totally untrue. Being a high school teacher and having 4
daughters, I see first hand how mean students (girls) can be to each
other. One study stated that girls from the age of 15-17 are most
likely to be cyber bullied. This doesn't surprise me one bit! I
believe that this age group of females spend a massive amount of time
IM and updating My Space and Facebook accounts. This makes them prime
targets for cyber bullying. Throughout the day I have mentioned this
topic in my classes and the major of students did not think this was a
big problem in Troy. With off line bullying students can at least get
away from the bullies when they leave school and go home. With cyber
bullying they may be bullied in school and even at home. For some
students this bullying and rejection is more than they can handle. In
several cases several teenagers have taken their own lives. One thing
that we can do as educators is make the faculty aware of how big of a
problem cyber bullying can be. In computer applications class, cyber
bullying and internet safety needs to be a part of the curriculum.
Students should be made aware of the signs of cyber bullying and what
to do if it happens to them. A cyber bullying school policy should be
implemented by the school board. This policy should be printed in the
school handbook, and should be signed, collected, and filed so that
students are aware of the consequences. There are many great websites
that address this problem. Many websites are constructed to address
various age groups. Several websites that I found informativewas:
ISafe, Net Smartz. These websites would be great to use in the
classroom and to share with parents.

On Mar 10, 12:05 am, Clinton <ad...@northern-tier.us> wrote:

[Brock]

I was able to read the articles and there was some interesting things
in there, but I was not able to open the video commercials you had for
us, hopefully I will be able to see them at class tonight. I was glad
to see that there is legal ramifications for these people if the
bullying does get severe and threatens others. We are doing a big anti-
bullying initiative in our school right now but it deals mainly with
off line bullying, things that happen here at school. Hopefully I will
be able to see these commercials and we can discuss this topic more
and than maybe I will be able to share it with my faculty and we will
be able to use it in our program.

On Mar 10, 12:05 am, Clinton <ad...@northern-tier.us> wrote:

[Donna Williams]

After reading through the cyber bullying material from the Session 7
Wiki page and viewing the short videos, has your idea of cyber
bullying changed at all?  

I was not able to open the pew article. But the videos were worth more
than any kind of article. Just hearing the things said aloud that
people might say online makes you realize how cruel these things can
be.

Did this information broaden your knowledge of this topic?

I definitely did, and since I have never been the brunt of this kind
of thing, it is sometimes difficult to believe how people who have
been harrassed online can go to such drastic measures.

What impact does cyber bullying have on the classroom?  

At my grade level the bullying is more on an in person level, than
online.

Have you seen first-hand the impact of cyber bullying in your
classroom, if so, and
if you can, please share examples?

As of this point, I have not.

What are some strategies that you can use in your classroom to reduce
cyber bullying and it's impact on the classroom environment?

I do have a couple of groups of middle school students who have said
they have online blogs and do games online. So we had a discussion on
the right and wrong way to act online. I could see it having a huge
impact on a classroom if some children had a fight the day before
online and carried it into school the next day. And some kids never
forget anything, so it could become a long drawn out thing. And you
would have to be hopeful that kids would not try to deal with it on
their own, but would involve an adult to help with the situation.

I have heard some of these commercials on the radio, which is a good
thing, but I don't think I've ever seen one on televison. I hope they
are aired on channels both kids and adults would watch.

[Rachel]

On Mar 10, 12:05 am, Clinton <ad...@northern-tier.us> wrote:

> After reading through the cyber bullying material from the Session 7
> Wiki page and viewing the short videos, has your idea of cyber
> bullying changed at all?  Did this information broaden your knowledge
> of this topic?

Reading the articles was a lot like watching clips about cyberbullying
on the Today show. Like that poor girl who committed suicide last
year over a cyberbullying situation. What really changed my opinion
of cyberbullying though, was those commercials! How wonderful...and
horrible at once! I've never seen one of those commercials on tv and
think that they should not only be played more, but the ads for them
should plaster our school halls. It was so difficult to watch those
kids saying those things aloud. I think so often we become
comfortable hearing the stories and reading about it, but to hear it
said like that...wow!

> What impact does cyber bullying have on the classroom?  

I think a large impact. How can a student concentrate on school and
commitments when their mind is a buzz with a uncomfortable social
situations. Kids have so much to deal with as it is...for them to
have to be bullied at home on their computer and then show up at
school the next day, face their bully, AND perform well as a student
and athlete - and I think it happens more often than I realize in my
own little school! I just had a student confide not long ago that
some of the other kids are "just terrible to her" and I said "how so"
and she said "my locker...facebook".

Have you seen
> first-hand the impact of cyber bullying in your classroom, if so, and
> if you can, please share examples?

Oops...see above:)

> What are some strategies that you can use in your classroom to reduce
> cyber bullying and it's impact on the classroom environment?

I just started new general music classes today and while I always give
the "please be nice to one another - pick a student for group work
right away if they seem group-less, etc"...I really focused on it this
year. But I think schools should honestly start more programs to make
kids aware of cyberbullying. In my humble opinion I think
cyberbullying should be addressed equally, if not more aggressively,
than drugs and alcohol!

[Debbie]

Even though Duane and I read extensively about cyberbullying to get
ready for our presentation to the class, I continue to be shocked at
the extent to which cyberbullying can penetrate the lives of our high
school and middle school students. Overall my reaction to all of this
is, that there seems to be no limit to the number of ways a student
can be cyberbullied, other than the limit of other students'
imaginations. Unfortunately, we know that there is no limit to the
imagination.

The Stop Bullying web site by WiredKids impressed me the most,
although I think the video clips and commercials do a great job of
illustrating how easily cyberbullying can take place and can so easily
do harm. The Wired Kids stop bullying intro to their site made me
realize that cyberbullying lasts even longer than school yard
bullying, can happen 24/7 and is able to permeate so many aspects of a
child's and their parents' lives, including among so many other
things, identity theft. The illustrations given in that website
introduction broadened by understanding of cyberbullying more by
specifically spelling out so many examples of how cyberbullying can
take place! Again, the list seemed never ending and only limited by
the limits of a child's imagination. Most of the examples, I would
never have dreamed up on my on, but I do think that as educators, we
all need to be aware of those possibilities.

Cyberbullying impacts the classroom through the harm that it inflicts
on students' identity and self esteem and the ways that affects
students relationships with each other. Since I do not have a regular
class room, I have not seen any examples that I can discuss here. As
school librarian, however, I do have the opportunity to develop
relationships with students who are looking for a place and a
relationship of acceptance. Mostly what I see in my many interactions
with high school students is that the "hurt" inflicted remains hidden
from many of us.

Since starting this class, I have decided to implement a new strategy
to teach Internet safety and more about cyberbullying. I talked about
this in an earlier post to the discussion board. The great thing is
that I have had the opportunity to try it out in a limited way and I
am excited about its possibilities. Just last week a 12th grade
general English class started their term paper research. In the
beginning of their research, I introduced to them the new features of
the POWER Library databases in EBSCOhost and reviewed several
searching techniques that would help them research more effectively.
I researched cyberbullying as my sample topic with the class and found
that it was a great way to integrate some basic Internet safety
rules. It also would be an easy way to get a discussion going about
cyberbullying with senior high school students. I think that my idea
of using different aspects of Internet safety at different grade
levels as sample topics for research projects will work out well as a
way to reinforce the importance of safety when using the Internet. I
believe more than ever before that teaching Internet safety should
start at the elementary level and continue through middle school and
computer applications at the high school level. Internet safety
should be an ongoing curriculum integrated through all levels and it
should change as it is taught to meet the diverse and new forms it can
easily morph into.

[Wheaton]

On Mar 10, 12:05 am, Clinton <ad...@northern-tier.us> wrote:

> After reading through the cyber bullying material from the Session 7
> Wiki page and viewing the short videos, has your idea of cyber
> bullying changed at all?  Did this information broaden your knowledge
> of this topic?

Through simply listening to my students and hearing what they say they
do online or claim to do online, I am not at all surprised at this. I
really see a problem with some children today in the departments of
'little to no consequence' and 'completely disregarding others
feelings'.
I have students who have completely slandered others while they were
not around (without a care that I was completely standing there and
within earshot of them). I will hold them back from recess and ask
them what that was all about and they would reply with 'oh, nothing.
We do it all the time.' When asked if I could bring that particular
student into the room to varify if it was 'nothing', they would start
to show the remorse. It is totally easy for children to look or act
tough without the possibility of immediate face to face confrontation.
Although some of the instances I've seen seem petty to me as an adult,
feelings are feelings and I seen some hurt in the past school year.
As mentioned in class, my students go onto Disney's "Club Penguin."
Long story short, a student gave his password to a couple of friends.
Once this student ticked a couple of his buddies off at school so they
raced home, logged on as him and completely redressed his penguin in
girls clothing and had it talking to other boy penguins in a
flirtacious manner. they kept it on line, not allowing him to log on
and reset his penguin. You can laugh because we're talking penguins
here, but I can tell you that kid was floored!
I have a rule in my classroom that I've decided to extend to any form
of bullying, now including cyber bullying. I call it "3 then Me."
When presented with a problem, 1)ignore them 2) If they continue, ask
them to stop again 3) If it doesn't stop, ask them one more time,
letting them know they will get me (Mr. Wheaton) involved if they do
not stop, then ME) I am now officially involved.
I do this for a couple reasons. It gives the student an opportunity
to simply ask and not involve equal retalliation and I feel it helps
the child deal with problems on their own instead of becoming
constantly dependent.