Cyberbullying

Define cyberbullying. Do you have personal experience with it as either a victim or perpetrator, even if you didn’t know it at the time?

Cyberbullying is picking on and abusing someone through the internet often anonymously. I have never been the victim of cyberbullying to my knowledge at least. I think the reason for this is that it wasn't the bullying style of my generation. My time was the time of bullying by writing on bathroom doors and so forth. And I did see that happen to kids I knew in Jr. high.

Describe the problems schools face in dealing with cyberbullying. What are the legal issues? How would you know students are being cyberbullied? Should schools step in and regulate what is happening off-site?

The problem with cyber-bullying is that it is hard for schools to control and monitor. It is also difficult to prosecute legally as in the example with the mother that impersonated a boy online. It was hard to find legal grounds to punish her. I hope that the federal government is working on cyber-bullying laws that will better enable them to prosecute serious cases.

I think I wouldn't know that students are being cyber-bullied unless they told me. So I think it would be prudent of me to address the issue in the beginning of my class and let students know how they can address the issue if they are a victim of cyber-bullying. I believe schools should have concrete rules concerning cyber-bullying and methods of addressing the issue if it comes up.