Blog #7- Cyberbullying

Image by Freepik- Girl sad and overwhelmed by unkind comments on various digital devices 

The beauty and downfall of language is the power that is held within words.  As much as they can lift up and praise, they can tear down and degrade.  Ultimately, words are powerful weapons and should be handled accordingly.  Unfortunately, many people choose to use words to harm others.  This is something I am very familiar with and have experienced during my years as an educator.  Years ago, bullying was prevalent on the playground and I spent time in class teaching students about being kind, using words to help and inclusivity.  Each year I felt like the battle with bullying increased.  And as technology crept its way into our everyday lives, new forms of bulling evolved and cyberbullying started to impact my students.  I have helped students who were victims of cyberbullying through emails, chats and social media.  While bullying is bullying, cyberbullying was harder for me to identify.  I couldn't always see it happening, and as mentioned by Faucher et al "many targets choose to suffer in silence rather than report what they are experiencing" (2015).  As an educator, this meant that I had to start paying more attention to changes in my students' behaviors and have open conversations about what the types of bullying and build trust to let them know I was here to help them if they were victims of bullying of any type. 

Today, as a librarian, I continue to teach about and discuss cyberbullying with my classes. However, I often wonder if I'm effective enough.  I am always looking for ways to ensure that I am reaching all students and encourage them to be good digital citizens. This week's resources were helpful and eye-opening.  It inspired me to review my current resources and lessons on bullying, more specifically on cyberbullying.  One of the books I found during my searches this week that may be helpful for older students is Patricia Pollaco's book Bully.  It specifically deals with a student recognizing and dealing with cyberbullying via social media.  I believe that many of my 4th and 5th grades students might be able to relate to the characters and will hopefully identify strategies that they can use to help them in similar situations.     

Image from Amazon- Front cover of Patricia Polacco's book Bully.

Another idea from Faucher's 2015 article that really stuck with me was the analogy

"One analogy that is particularly illustrative of the range of impacts of workplace bullying is from Lutgen-Sandvik et al. (2007, p. 855). The authors compare the impacts of bullying to those of burns. First-degree burns (and low levels of bullying) are common, superficial, quick to heal, but prolonged or repeated exposure can lead to problems.  Second-degree burns (and more intensive, frequent, and persistent bullying) are more painful and require more intervention to heal. Third-degree burns (and escalated cases of bullying) can “result in deep scarring and permanent damage.”

For me, this is a wonderful comparison that is easy for students to understand.  Sometimes they don't realize the power their words have on others.  They fail to see that they can leave permanent damage to other's self esteem, confidence and self worth.  I believe that it is so important for all educators, regardless of position, to include some aspect of bullying (including cyberbullying) education into their classrooms.  This ensures that all students have exposure to and an understanding of what it is and how to prevent and respond to it. 

References

Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015, August 27). 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). https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v3i6.1033