Cyberbullying: A big no no!!!

Cyberbulling is bullying that happens using technology. People can be cyberbullied online, texting, podcasts, ect… This form of bullying is popular because it is easier to get away without someone catching you. It is also popular because you don’t have to actually face the person you are bullying.

Personally I have never been a victim of cyberbulling because I don’t use technology that often. Now that I will be using technology more, I bet this issue will come up a lot. I have been bullied a lot in the past. It is not fun at all. It hurts and brings you down. Nothing good comes of it. I believe the people that bully are cowards and disrespectable people. They are insecure and have to put people down in order to be built up.

Unfortunately they are a lot of bullies out there. I have never truly bullied anyone. I don’t believe in it and never will. I hope to stand up for people that are bullied and cast a light on a sometime dark world.

The problem of cyberbulling in the schools is a major one. What can we do as educators to help prevent cyberbulling? I truly believe the answer is educating our students. EDUCATE. If we can educate our students about the bullying/cyberbulling they will have a better handle on the negatives it can cause people.

I believe the schools have a great responsibility to address cyberbulling. Legally cyberbulling has a lot of gray area. I do know you can legally take action if it is affecting your school environment. It is hard to know how a kid is affected from case to case. What one kid can take as a joke, another kid cannot. Therefore all types of bullying should be addressed when the opportunity presents itself. Obviously you can’t catch every student. If you do happen to catch them, make the punishment something that is lasting. A slap on the wrist won’t stop the kids from doing it again. A harsh punishment means kids will be less likely to engage in bullying behavior.

So to sum up, I believe in a proactive approach first. Try to teach the kids about the issues of cyberbullying. If this is done right, I think you will have less of an issue. If bullying still continues then a harsh consequence. Bullying should not be tolerated.