Cyberbullying

    When I was investigating cyberbullying: reading articles, watching videos, and exploring websites I was surprised by the amount of cyberbullying that exist and the amount that continues to exist into adulthood. According to one article, "Once believed to be the dominion of the schoolyard "tough" kid, bullying is now viewed as a more complex and widespread problem." (Faucher et al, 2015). I know from working in a school and raising 5 children that there is cyberbullying out there. However, I was not aware that it was happening as often as it is especially in the workplace and with adults. Thinking about that, this is the first generation of adults that have truly been raised in an age of technology, and they probably were not provided the digital citizenship education that they needed. While it would seem that people should know to just be kind and shouldn't have to be told not to bully or hurt others with their words or actions, when looking at the statistics out there about cyberbullying, that clearly isn't the case. This confirmed for me the importance of solid digital citizenship education beginning in the earliest of grades. 

    Working in an elementary school I am continually surprised at the early age that many children are given cell phones, tablets, and unsupervised use of technology. While there are many components to being a good digital citizen, cyberbullying is certainly a major topic to be covered. The fact that children are being given devices at earlier and earlier ages means we need to begin digital citizenship education with our youngest students. I feel like as educators we need to provide digital citizenship education to parents as well as students. This would allow parents to be aware of what is out there and be better equipped to help their children make better digital decisions. I would love to have information to send home for parents as well as host parent education events in the library. For students the media center would be the perfect place to provide age appropriate education on digital citizenship.  As I was exploring websites, I discovered there is a tremendous amount of material out there for educating parents and students. I will link a few of those websites at the bottom. They offered infographics, presentation ideas for varying grade levels, pamphlets that could given to parents and students, videos, and more. 

digital citizenship symbaloo

Cyberbullying Research Center

Teacher resource for digital citizenship

References

Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015). From the sandbox to the inbox: Comparing the acts, impacts, and solutions of bullying in k-12, higher education, and the workplace. Journal Of Education And Training Studies, 3(6), 111-125.