When Cyberbullying Spills into Schools

Education Week offers the Webinar, When Cyberbullying Spills into Schools, on Thursday, February 23, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. The session will focus on online conflicts and negative comments that cause problems within classrooms and schools. We hear so much about bullying and cyberbullying these days, and parents and students often expect school administrators to solve the problems created by students outside school. Even when the problems spill over into schools, actions administrators and teachers can take aren’t clearly defined. The Webinar will take on topics such as: should schools be monitoring sites like Facebook, can action be taken against students who misbehave online, when should schools step in, and how can schools create cultures that don’t accept bullying? Leaders of the Webinar will be: Kevin Jennings and Barbara-Jane Paris, both national experts on the problems of bullying and anti-bullying programs.

Professional Development: Online Recertification & More

Knowledge Delivery Systems offers online courses that cover a variety of professional development such as recertification, salary advancement, and specialized learning.
Go to the Knowledge Delivery map and click on your state to see what is offered in your area. In New Jersey, if you are a member of NJEA, you are eligible for free professional development courses. New York teachers can earn, for example, three “P-Credits” from the NYCDOE, which can be applied to MA+3, BA+30, and BA+60.  In many of the states, eClassroom 2.0 courses are available. The courses range in pricing; you’ll need to check the Knowledge Delivery site for details.

Free White Paper: Facing Down Bullying

Herff Jones Achievement Series offers a pdf white paper, Facing Down Bullying, which features information on helping schools with awareness and the definition of, and strategies for, dealing with bullying behaviors. It focuses on what is called “relationship bullying” rather than bullying that includes physical aggression. Relationship bullies are difficult to detect because they are often popular students, and those who are bullied don’t want to admit to anyone that they are ostracized, teased, targets of rumors, etc. The paper discusses programs and Websites designed to promote an awareness of relationship bullying in its many forms and provides parents, schools, and community organizations ways to deal with it.

Whole Child Approach to Bullying Prevention

ASCD (Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development) advocates reforms that include classroom rules, procedures, and expectations designed to promote acceptable social interaction. Information on the reforms can be found in the Healthy School Report, 2^nd Edition. The Report looks at school climate in relationship to “attendance, engagement, empowerment, ownership, teaching, and learning”. ASCD includes whole child indicators, which help with assessment, goals and decision-making related to creating healthy school environments.  The Association’s Whole Child Blog targeted bullying during September/October 2011, and as a result, has published the Bullying Roundup, an online page containing some of comments from the blog.

Bullying in Physical Education and Sports

The American Association for Physical Education and Recreation’s article “Reducing Risk Associated with Bullying in Sport, Recreation, and Physical Education Programs” discusses research related to bullying and offers nine Risk Management Tips. The tips include establishing a “strict, zero-tolerance anti-bullying/harassment policy”; educating teachers, parents and others who work with students about bullying; having those involved in athletics sign a contract that they understand the anti-bullying policy and are aware of the penalties for not abiding by the contract; taking  “[s]trong disciplinary and  corrective measures ... for known cases of bullying”; supervising all activities carefully; establishing a reporting system; being aware of legislation related to bullying; keeping records of bullying incidents; and continuing to evaluate bullying/harassment policies. The article (Safety Notebook, 11/2010) is available on the AAPAR site for $1 for members and $  2 for non-members.

Playworks: Healthy Kids Ideas & Activities

Student well-being is what Playworks is all about. It focuses upon structured recess, student encouragement, engaging physical activity, and discipline. If recess is a tough time in your school because of problems happening on the playground, you’ll appreciate this free site and its suggestions related to bullying, fighting, teaching, injuries, and other possible playground difficulties. Among the sections on the site are: Make Recess Count, Why Play Matters, Studies on Play, Finding Games, and Get in the Game. You can check out the Playworks blogs, sign up for Playworks email updates, and follow Playworks on Twitter.

Frontline: Growing Up Online

The Frontline report, Growing Up Online, features information and discussions on the questions, “Just how radically is the Internet transforming the experience of childhood?” It tackles questions related to students and their beliefs about privacy, private worlds of teens online, teens sharing personal information, teachers and tech, and traditional teaching methods.  The section, Keeping Kids Safe, focuses upon what parents need to know about their children and the Internet, fear of predators, cyberbullying, and state and federal efforts to keep kids safe. You can watch the full program online, view the follow-up report, and read what people who saw the program had to say about it. If you want, you can add your comments about the Internet’s impact on your students. Don’t forget to check out the readings and links, teacher’s guide, and information on what we’ve learned abut kids and the Internet and how our digital generation is doing.

Are Your Students in the Here & Now Only?

At the Annual Conference for the Association of Independent Maryland Schools, several of the sessions focused on students and their use of technologies.  Discussion during the sessions addressed problems students face and/or students cause when using the Internet, computers, and digital devices. The consensus was that students are so focused upon “the here and now” that they don’t take time to consider how their actions online may cause problems in the future. For example, why do many post inappropriate photos online, when they’ve certainly been told that these photos can damage their reputation, attract those they don’t want to attract, and stand in the way of their college admissions or job opportunities? Why do some students continue to bully others when they have to know that this behavior is unacceptable? Is it about looking good in front of peers? Is it about social acceptance and wanting to make oneself look better than others? Is it about students asserting their independence from the adults in their lives—students trying to grow up and be noticed and accepted? As educational professionals we know that kids’ problems, which sound silly to us often seem like “life and death” dilemmas to them. How do we find ways to give kids what they need so that they will feel safe enough with their “here and now” to do what’s right for their future?

Facing Down Bullies

Whether it's bullying online or offline, trying to keep it from happening is extremely difficult. According to a New York Times article, the American Academy of Pediatrics will include guidelines about the prevention of bullying in an upcoming policy statement. A model anti-bullying program developed by Dan Olweus of Norway will be recommended for schools. The program works at both classroom and individual levels as it helps students understand that bullies are persons with behavior problems and that other students must learn to stand up for those being bullied. The policy calls for a more active role among pediatricians in encouraging parents and schools to work to help both bullies and their victims.