ISCI 761: Cyberbullying (Week 9)
Cyberbullying is a serious issue that affects many people at various stages in their lives. What I learned this week is that most cyberbullying initiatives are designed primarily for students in middle school and up. With my role as an elementary school librarian, it will be important for me to find ways to still address the severity of this issue in the context that applies to my younger students in an appropriate way. At this age, some of the upper elementary students might have cell phones and social media accounts, so I will need to discuss proper use, digital citizenship, and online safety with them. However, there are other programs that some of the younger students use within the school that could also be tools for cyberbullying, such as chatting through Microsoft Teams or leaving unkind comments on other students' work on other sharing platforms.
There are many informational videos about cyberbullying available as resources for parents and educators. When watching these videos, I realized that to get your message across, you don't always have to make them super serious or scare kids away with the worst-case scenario (Cyberbullying Research Center, n.d.). The most effective videos that I watched were engaging and interactive and included actual students acting out scenarios or providing personal testimonies. The use of poetry also sends a powerful and memorable message. I think this will be especially impactful with a younger audience so that they can understand the message in a way that they will truly remember.
The Seven Digital Deadly Sins program is very engaging and informational and targets many issues that teens and adults experience online. I enjoyed all the different interactive elements included, such as the videos, short stories, and polling questions (Byrne, n.d.). The content in this program is intended for an older audience, but I think elementary-aged students would also benefit from the level of interactive engagement that this program provided. I would love to use something like this for a younger audience with content that is aligned with what is appropriate and relevant for the elementary age group.
In addition to showing powerful videos, engaging lessons can be designed around cyberbullying to help students learn more about what this can look and feel like. The lesson plan provided by AASL is a great example of how to structure a cyberbullying lesson for a 3rd-grade class. I would use something very similar to this in my library as it included a BrainPOP video with questions, which most students are already familiar with and enjoy. It also provided time for students to generate ideas and collaborate in small groups while discussing ways to combat cyberbullying in different forms (Introduction to Cyberbullying, n.d.). I also think it's very important to have other school members involved when having these discussions, like the school guidance counselor or a member of the administrative team, to show not only the seriousness of the matter, but that there is additional support for students who need it outside of the teacher and librarian.
The effects of cyberbullying can be long-lasting, so it is important to address these issues starting at a young age to deter students from engaging in acts of cyberbullying and to also provide them with ways to combat cyberbullying if they are victims, including how to report it and how to handle the feelings that you are experiencing in a way that does not continue to bring you harm. I also need to emphasize the importance of reporting as many students may be afraid to report these issues because of repercussions or the possibility of losing digital privileges and plan to include an anonymous reporting system so that students will not allow these concerns to prevent them from issuing a report (Faucher, 2015). Once I have begun my role as an elementary school librarian, I plan to do just that and make age-appropriate and engaging lessons targeted at specific cyberbullying behaviors that are relevant to the programs that my students are using. By starting at such a young age, hopefully, we can instill the habits of good digital citizenship in the students while they are young that they can carry on with them as a foundation to continue to build on throughout their educational career.
References
Byrne, R. (n.d.). Seven digital deadly sins. 7 Sins. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from http://sins.nfb.ca/#/Grid
Cyberbullying Research Center. (n.d.). Cyberbullying videos to use in presentations. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://cyberbullying.org/videos
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). https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v3i6.1033
Introduction to Cyberbullying [Lesson plan]. (n.d.). AASL Learning4Life Lesson Plan Database.
Hello! Elementary librarian here! I get it. Cyberbullying is very hard to get a handle on. I agree, parents and educators need resources to stop cyberbullying. It is so easy to just restrict internet access but that leads to students underreporting. Have you heard of the Be Internet Awesome program? It's a free Google program that teaches internet safety. I use it with my elementary students. It is an interactive game for kids that teaches them to be "Internet Awesome." They love it! You should give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate that you pointed out the importance of reporting. I think many students don't like to report when they are being bullied because one of two things tend to happen, 1. The bully gets in trouble, but the bullied faces more backlash from the bully and/or 2. nothing is really done about the bullying, which lets students see that students are getting away with bullying. Its important that we are actually taking bullying seriously and that there are consequences. I also think its great that you are already beginning to plan engaging lessons on this topic for your future students, it is definitely an important one that needs to be addressed starting early on!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that discussions about cyber bullying should happen at the elementary level. I like your idea about an interactive like the Seven Digital Deadly Sins but geared toward younger students. You are right about upper elementary students possibly having their own phones - lessons involving polite and proper conduct online can be introduced. Multiple people at the school level can be involved in that. I like your point about creating a supportive network of individuals at school for students to approach with concerns and questions. Thanks for your response!
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