Cyberbullying is a Serious Cause for Concern

Introduction

For this project I wanted to discuss Cyberbullying. I chose this because it is a huge issue still and has been since technology became more prominent in the youth. It is something that can be ignored and needs to be talked about. Educational Significance- The importance of this topic is that cyberbullying not only mentally effects students, follows them home, and can affect their school work. About half of young people have experienced some form of cyberbullying, and 10 to 20 percent experience it regularly (Beran 2015.

)  Review of Literature- The statistics I found: Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the internet (Beran 2015.)Only 1 in 10 teens tells a parent if they have been a cyber bully victimFewer than 1 in 5 cyber bullying incidents are reported to law enforcement (Beran 2015.)

A personal story I found was one a mother spoke on. Her son was being bullied and shunned at school because children said he was posting rumors and lies on Facebook about others. The mother Marie and son were confused because her son did not even have a Facebook. After some fast searching of his name Marie found a profile of him bullying other students he barely knew online. Someone had used her sons identity to bully other students online. The school said there was nothing they could do about it it was an off campus issue (Hoffman 2010.)  So schools as of 2010 when the article was published had no authority over their students and cyberbullying. Now in 2018 you can depending on your state and school be expelled, suspended, or the school can take any action in general towards cyberbullying. Schools may intervene now and many have added cyberbullying rules to their anti-bullying programs. Recently a large Canadian study of “26,078 students from 436 schools in grades 6 to 10 found that 11 percent to 19 percent of boys and 17 percent to 19 percent of girls reported cyber-bullying, with older children reporting higher levels” (Beran 2015.)

What can teachers do: Avidly discuss bullying within their classroom. Teach classroom cooperation like assigning group projects. Develop a classroom plan if another student is being bullied or witnesses it. Take immediate action. Confront students in private. Involve parents of all students involved (Monks 2016.)   Expressing to parents at the start of the school year and throughout what you expect from students not only education wise but behavioral wise is very important (Monks 2016.) Teachers should also avoid judgement of situations, and be dispassionate about them. Bringing in how they feel is unprofessional and they should be the receiver recorder and mediator of situations, offer a redemption to student/students (Monks 2016.)

Signs your child is being cyberbullied/ bullied: Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illnessChanges in eating habits, like suddenly skipping meals or binge eating Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmaresDeclining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to schoolSudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situationsFeelings of helplessness or decreased self esteemFrequent victimization in most situations; often feel ‘attacked’‘Traditional’ at school bullying can result in cyberbullying when it comes home with the student (Kowalski 2012.) Self-destructive behaviors such as running away from home, harming themselves, or talking about suicide (Kowalski 2012.)

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