Cyber Bullying

These days, the majority of teenagers regularly use the Internet to communicate with friends and get to know people better. Most students access online programs like msn chat and sites like facebook daily. As more and more youth use cell phones on a regular basis, text messaging has become a part of daily life for many. Using the Internet to communicate with others socially is classified as social media, and other interfaces like twitter, blogger, myspace, and youtube are often used by young people and are also included in this category.

Facebook allows users to sign up to the site for free and create a unique profile, including photos, video, links and connections to their friends. Facebook also has a message sending function, a "wall" to post messages publicly and a chat functionality. MSN chat is a program that can be downloaded for free to your computer and allows for users to chat with one another in real time. Unlike facebook chat, MSN allows users to chat with multiple people in a single chat room at one time.

There are many benefits for youth in using social media: they become familiar with new, web 2.0 technology, they can interact with peers, communication is instant, so questions can be answered in real time, they can share information (including links) quickly, and they can develop relationships in a way that was not available to their parents as teenagers.

However, as with any new technology, there are issues that can cause difficulties for users of social media. There has long been a focus to protect youth from online predators, but in recent years, a more prevalent, daily threat is cyber bullying by one's peers.

Cyber bullying is any defined as bullying that is communicated over digital means. Cyber bullying occurs in social networks like facebook and myspace, in comment areas on blogs and youtube videos, and through instant messaging and text messaging. Cyber bulling includes: sending cruel, threatening or viscious messages; posting information or pictures with the intention to embarrass someone; creating web content that contains material ridiculing others; breaking into personal email or social media accounts and sending cruel or embarrassing material to others; tricking someone into the revealing information on instant messaging platforms; and sending photos to others without the subject's consent.

Youth must understand that they are responsible for what they say in person and online. Comments that are created in online formats can be archived and kept for years. Unfortunately, bullying comments can certainly come back to "haunt" the writers far down the road. Youth need to know that they are always responsible for their "digital footprint" on the Internet and remain accountable for the things they say and the things they write. School boards and the law are coming down very harshly on cyber bullies.

The most important tool for combating bullying, including cyber bullying, is increasing awareness. When youth begin to understand the far reaching effects of their comments and develop empathy for others, bullying in general will decrease.

What can you do as a parent?
-Monitor your child's Internet use: set the computer up in a common area of your home
-Discuss social media, bullying and digital footprints with your child: Make sure your child understands how huge and public the Internet is. Anything they post can be seen by anyone in the world with Internet access
-Encourage your child to come speak with you if he or she is having issues with a cyber bully. Make sure that he or she knows that cyber bullying is a serious form of bullying
-Remind your child not to post any identifying information (such as address, phone number, etc) on social media sites
-Encourage your child not to engage a cyber bully, but to keep a record of all messages sent to him or her
-Inform your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or cell phone service provider of any abuse

Privacy issues

At the beginning of the year, when students bring in their Media Permission forms, I will ensure that parents know their child may be featured (by first name, first name and last initial, by photos of school work or photos of the child) on this blog.

Parents and guardians will have an opportunity to browse the blog and see if this is something they are comfortable with.

Wonderful News

Over the course of the year, as wonderful things happen, we will post them on this blog. When we attend special events, have guests come to our classroom, when projects are done exceptionally well and when students have accomplished interesting things in and out of school, families will be updated.

Homework information

Student representatives from each class will be posting homework reminders on Twitter throughout the school year. Please check your child's class Twitter account regularly for updates.

Class Events

Class events will be posted here throughout the school year.