Cyberbullying: What schools
and teachers can do
How schools and educators can address
and help prevent abusive behavior on the Internet
These days, the internet is woven into
people’s everyday lives, and children’s lives are no exception. For all its
benefits, the technological evolution has also brought, or magnified, some
problems, and cyberbullying is one of the most pervasive threats that youth
face online. In fact, when a kid starts to be bullied at school, the harassment
usually continues on social networks, messaging apps, and elsewhere on the
internet. Educational institutions may think that the issues of the digital
world lie outside the scope of schooling or that they don’t warrant scrutiny.
However, online abuse and harassment often have a bigger impact on the victims
than in-person bullying – and yet they may be ignored until it’s too late.
Importantly, on the internet everything
can become more powerful. A social media post can reach hundreds or even
thousands of people in a matter of minutes and before you know it, all those
people may be talking and expressing opinions about the post or image. The
impact of abusive content on the victim is magnified when there’s an increase
in the number of people seeing, liking, sharing, and/or commenting on the post.
Indeed, if the content has gone viral, it’s impossible to stop or delete it,
even if the aggressors come to regret their actions.
On a related note, the sense of
decreased inhibition afforded by screens and social networks due to the sense
of anonymity may make many kids feel empowered enough to say and do things in
the digital world that they would never do in the physical world.
Against this backdrop and as way to
encourage a proactive approach in tackling cyberbullying and other types of
online harassment, here are four principles that every school and teacher
can apply in order to deal with this problem:
1. Educate students
to be good digital citizens
Since the digital world is part of our
real lives, the rules that apply on the internet should be the same as those we
are already familiar with in the physical world. When teaching kids about
respect and social conventions, it’s important to include the realm of the
internet and ensure that they are also taught how to behave and communicate
through digital media.
Subjects like civic education and
citizenship should go beyond traditional boundaries to touch also on ethics,
morality and respect in the digital world. Team exercises and activities are
another powerful way to get groups to work together as one. The purpose of such
activities is to get all the members of the class to work together toward a
common goal, using all their individual strengths and valuing each person’s
abilities to complete a task.
2. Prioritize
awareness-raising over banning
Awareness is very powerful, not least
because it changes social perceptions. Rather than creating panic over the use
of technology or spreading misunderstandings, awareness allows a positive
atmosphere to emerge.
Many schools choose to ban the use of
technology, which can actually backfire in that pupils and students will use
their phones on the sly. Young people identify with technology and adapt it to
fit into their daily lives. That’s why it’s important to show students how they
can use technology for the common good, such as to share knowledge or to
support one another. Furthermore, by bringing technology into the classroom,
teachers can focus on its ethical use.
3. Collective
solidarity in reporting cyberbullying
A report by the Safe2Tell initiative found that, in 81% of cases of
bullying at school, some group of students would have known about an attack,
but would have decided not to report it. In most of these cases, the silence is
mainly due to the fear of becoming the next victim or of facing punishment by
adults. In these cases, children need to know that the problem is not technology,
but rather people using it for the wrong ends. Promoting free-flowing dialogue
and providing a space for listening also contributes to children knowing who to
turn to if faced with abusive behavior.
On the other hand, online abuse
can, and should, be reported on the platforms themselves. All social networks
have the option to report posts, comments and even profiles that harm or harass
someone. This is the only way to eliminate abusive content on social networks,
because after a series of reports are received, the post or profile is deleted.
These reports are completely anonymous, so there is no need to fear
retaliation.
4. Dialogue: the
basis for all support
Students need to know who they can reach
out to before a problem arises. And in this area, trust is the key to open a
dialogue. A recent survey (in
Spanish) found that 25% of children and teenagers believe their elders
know less than they do about technology. This perception makes them feel that
their online problems are played down and not understood. What happens on the
internet is viewed by children as very serious. Their digital identities are essentially
the same for them as their real-world identities. For that reason, if a student
approaches a teacher or other responsible adult with an online problem, the
teacher needs to take it as seriously as a similar real-world issue and seek
out the resources to deal with it.
It’s important to remember that while
youngsters know a lot about how technology is used and how it works, adults
have more real-life experience. With this in mind, exploring topics like
technological risks, safety on the internet and appropriate online behavior are
vital to encouraging dialogue. And it’s essential to break the silence around
bullying and cyberbullying, by talking about instances of cyberabuse and their
solutions. In doing so, teachers need to be clear and empathetic and to
communicate openly with their students.
In conclusion, if we view digital
communication as part of each person’s own little world, we can apply these
thoughts expressed by Eleanor Roosevelt:
Where, after
all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close
and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are
the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or
college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the
places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal
opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have
meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen
action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the
larger world.
