Cyberbullying-Blog #7
What stood out to me the most about cyberbullying is that it often accompanies face-to-face bullying and that the latter happens more often as the studies cited in the article From the Sandbox to the Inbox have shown (2015). It makes sense that cyberbullying is an extension of school-day occurrences. This is what is so hard now in the days of social media, for bullied children there is no escape, no respite, even within a child’s own home. I had the misconception that cyberbullying would be more frequent due to the draw of its anonymity and how it allows the perpetrator to avoid the reaction. However, the popularity of the face to face bullying points to something different. The bullies want to experience the reactions, at least in the K-12 studies, which is what I am most interested in.
As the article points out bullying tends to spike from the middle school years through early high school (Faucher et al., 2015), which strikes me that there is a correlation between that and the emotional changes of puberty. It would also track that bullies want to provoke emotions that mirror what they may be feeling on the inside. If schools don’t provide lessons on constructive ways to better handle strong emotions, then this may be how that pressure manifests. This might not make sense given what the article also indicates: that bullying continues with comparable frequency into adulthood unless you attribute it to a habit that was created and reinforced within this time period.
I always think that, like salt in soup, it is always easier to add something than to take it away. Instead of taking overly punitive measures in response to bullying, the more effective move would be to work on creating a positive school culture. The videos from the collection that I found the most compelling were the ones that were about spreading positivity, instead of mitigating bullying. My favorites included the story of the kids that took the time to honor the school officer and the student group whose mission was to spread positivity. I think that the idea of a peer group promoting positivity is a great idea. If extensive amounts of energy are given to creating a school culture of positivity, there will be less space for the negative. A library space would be a great meeting space for such a peer group, and as a librarian, I can sponsor and help to direct that mission.
Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015, August 27). 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
#ICANHELP. (2017, February 6). #Digital4Good Smile Cards [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOsuSUuJ-hY
Official dude. be nice. (2016, August 18). Massive mob overwhelms school’s favorite police officer! [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1uAp69IJnk
Hi Meg!
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the videos that focused on ways to promote and spread kindness. This is actually something my school does as we have Kindness Friday's where everyone is encouraged to wear Positivi-Tees (shirts with positive messages). I would love to take this a step further and use these days to have students create and distribute kind messages to others around school. I do believe that building a positive school culture can help decrease the amount of bullying, but it is also important to teach students how to handle it if they experience in other places.
Hey Meg,
ReplyDeleteI loved the comparison, with the salt in the soup, welcome to fall aka soup season. I also like how you personally want to spreading positivity, in your library space. Using the library space as a meeting space is always great especially for those that still view the library as a place with books. I hope you create a peer positivity group, it sounds very inspiring and really gets the message out there that bullying should not be tolerated.
Thanks for the post,
Erin Castle
Meg,
ReplyDeleteYou made some great points in your post this week. Students absolutely need support in learning how to handle all of the emotions that they are experiencing at these ages and how to handle conflict. I also think that instilling a culture of positivity and promoting acts of kindness within the school could help to mitigate some of the bullying taking place. Thanks for sharing!
-Christina Lunetta
Hi Meg,
ReplyDeleteI agree that postiive culture is a better method than punitive actions. The officer video was moving in so many ways - students rallying together, a man in an authority position building positive relationships with students, students viewing a police officer as an ally, his emotion - it made me cry!
Meg,
ReplyDeleteI agree so much having been part of middle schools about how bullying starts in earnest then, especially cyberbullying. I think adding in positivity lessons in kindness and "by a buddy, not a friend" go along way to helping with the bully situation. Having all adults showcase kindness and act as role models is another big step. I think when celebrities that kids look up to display a kindness to all it also has a big impact. Celebrating Random Acts of Kindness throughout the school year is something I would like to incorporate in my future library too.
Caroline
Hello, I agree with you. Cyberbullying is an extension of school-day occurrences. I watch students tease other children all day long. I have administrators who sort of turn a blind eye to it. Some kids can be so mean and harsh to other kids. When I was in school decades ago, a bully stood along. Today, you have bullies and their accomplices. I'm sure some of the accomplices only go along to get along. In the instance where the person in the video was harassing the student and the group of girls laughed at the boy. Surely one of them could have said something to cut the teasing. Sometimes the group of accomplices are afraid of the bully that's why they go along with the teasing.
ReplyDelete