Empowering Students to Speak Up About Cyber Bullying
Teens are highly connected to the Internet.
They know the popular sites that
teens use, the acronyms, and the applications.
And though many teens seem
light-years ahead in cyberspace, they still
need adult guidance on tough issues like
cyber bullying.
Teachers and parents should engage
young people in dialogue about the
interactions youngsters have with others
on the Internet. To help start the conversation,
teachers may consider using a
curriculum to facilitate discussions about
appropriate online behavior and cyber
bullying. Examples of such curricula are
available online at http://www.adl.org,
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org, or
http://www.staysafeonline.org.
Another topic teachers may want to
discuss with students is that college recruiters,
employers, and law enforcement
authorities do check YouTube, MySpace,
and Facebook pages. Admissions, hiring,
and prosecutorial decisions may be
influenced by online content.
Teachers can enlist parents to monitor
their children’s online presence,
finding ways to balance privacy and
protection. Parents need to be aware of comments, photos, and videos their sons
or daughters are posting online. Families
need to talk about their children’s online
activities just as they would any other
daily activity.
Recent studies from the Seattle Children’s
Research Institute found that 54
percent of young people mention highrisk
behaviors like drug use and sexual
conduct on their MySpace pages.
Further, the researchers found that
sending a message to teens online
about risks of posting inappropriate
material reduced teens’ references to
high-risk behaviors. Researchers conducted
an intervention using a MySpace
profile identified as Dr. Meg to send a
message to teens about risks of posting
that kind of information. Within two
months, the doctor (who identified herself
on MySpace as a researcher) found a
reduction in risky references on those
teens’ profiles: 13 percent decreased
their references to sexual behavior and
26 percent to substance use.
Another idea is to establish a reliable,
anonymous method for students to
report cyber bullying. Students may
hesitate to report these problems for fear of losing phone or Internet privileges.
Make it clear that they will not be punished
for reporting. Schools and parents
need to then take prompt action to help
resolve online bullying.
Every student, parent, and teacher
should be encouraged to contact law
enforcement authorities if they receive
any message with threats of violence,
stalking behavior, or extortion. Incidents
of child sexual exploitation including
child pornography or unsolicited obscene
material sent to a child can be reported
to the CyberTipline sponsored by the
National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children in partnership with multiple federal
agencies. All incidents are reviewed
and analyzed before being forwarded to
appropriate law enforcement authorities.
The CyberTipline may be accessed by
phone at 1-800-843-5678 or online at
http://www.cybertipline.com. 
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