Rhonda+and+Jennifer

What is the role of the teacher in dealing with cyberbullying? How should districts address this issue?

[|YouTube Broken Friendships]

 (Jennifer's thoughts in purple.) As for my thoughts on teachers role with cyberbullying...we only have control with what goes on at school. Parents too need be play a key role in monitoring what their children do online and with texting while at home. Teachers need to monitor student activity. Students need to be aware that only sites that are approved are where they are allowed to go. As for the district, an acceptable use policy on using technology needs to be used. Teachers, administrators, districts need to stick to the policy indicating that appropriate use will occur or students lose access to using technology. They could also provide parent workshops on what is Cyberbullying, how to monitor it, and stop it. (Rhonda's thoughts in teal) At this point, cyberbullying is a fairly new problem and I feel ways to deal with it are still evolving. Our district, and I'm guessing most, takes the stance that if the cyberbullying does not take place at school or on school equipment, the school is not responsible for dealing with it. The issue gets dealt with by the local police. Cyberbullying should be formally discussed in schools just like good old fashioned "regular" bullying is. The topic should be brought into the light and all students should be made aware that there are consequences for cyberbullying too. Whether the social worker approaches the subject, a school wide assembly or a lesson as part of the Technolgy curriculum, cyberbullying needs addressed. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world where parents can be trusted to discuss this subject with their children, so like so many other topics (like character ed.), the schools must pick up the slack. In my research, I found the following website and it seemed like a decent resource. [|Stop Cyberbullying website]