“Whether (hate) is on the playground or virtually, peer cruelty doesn’t seem to have any limits or boundaries”
Access to technology in classrooms has encouraged many schools to adopt an acceptable use policy (AUP). These policies serve as rules and guidelines for individuals to follow for the continued permission to use school networks. Educators are tasked with balancing access to technology and learning 21st century skills and offering a safe learning environment (Common Sense Media, 2017) . While an AUP’s is often the first step to frame rules and procedures, they are generally presented to protect the school district from legal action. Robyler (2016) suggest that a comprehensive AUP contain 5 central components including:
Yet educators are often tasked to enforce AUP’s in an environment that is not policeable. While filters are use to safeguard against accessing unacceptable websites, the highest risk for young adolescents is protecting online identity and reputation. According to the Cyberbullying Research Center and their 2017 report at https://cyberbullying.org/facts, approximately 27% of students have been cyber bullied at some point in their lifetimes. Strickland (2017) states that “As technology has become more ingrained at increasingly younger ages for children, cyberbullying has become a serious issue that teachers and parents are trying to combat.” Due to health implications, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2017) has recognized bullying as a serious public health issue. Cyberbullying has a “major effect on their (student) academic performance as well as their mental and physical health."
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services suggests the following rules and integrating internet safety into a school culture based on their site stopbullying.gov (2017):
It has been reported that zero-tolerance policies don’t work (Strickland, 2017) and an AUP is only as strong as your commitment to enforce it (Common Sense Media, 2017). Fortunately, public campaigns such as stopbullying.gov and the Kind campaign have begun to educate both students and parents on appropriate online behavior called netiquette. Meanwhile, many schools promote appropriate behaviors through school wide initiatives such as Positive Behavior, Intervention & Supports (PBIS). Alternatively, PBIS relies on teaching students to use technology responsibly, just as you would teach students any other subject in school. References
Common Sense Media, Inc. (2017). 1-1 Essentials - Acceptable use Policies. Retrieved on October 3, 2017 from www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/1to1/aups National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (CDC), Division of Violence Prevention (2017, May 22). Technology and youth: Protecting your child from electronic aggression. Retrieved October 3, 2017 from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention Robyler, M.D. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (7th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Scheff, Sue (2013, November 20). Cyberbullying: There is a way out [web log post]. Retrieved October 3, 2017 from http://www.suescheffblog.com/cyberbullying-there-is-a-way-out/ Strickland, Ashley (2017, June 21). Bullying is a ‘serious public health problem’, experts say. Retrieved on October 3, 2017 from http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/10/health/bullying-public-health-zero-tolerance/index.html U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Stopbullying.gov [website]. Retrieved on October 3, 2017 from https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/at-school/rules/index.html
4 Comments
Rachael
10/5/2017 09:45:55 pm
This was a great post and so important-- all teachers who use technology should read this. I loved what you said about teaching the technology use expectations, with a lens on kindness and respect, just like you teach students any other subject in school. Kids are still learning how to behave, so why should we expect that they will know what to do when it comes to using technology? But most of all, I love the idea of teaching students not only how to use technology safely, but also how to use it kindly.
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Sarah
10/6/2017 07:56:32 am
Wow! What a great post about the importance of AUPs in fighting cyberbullying. I agree that it takes the whole school community to build, educate, and enforce an AUP. Often, schools and districts spend the most time building and enforcing the AUP. But, as you state, parental education and school-wide initiatives are crucial to fighting cyberbullying and teaching digital citizenship.
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Wes
10/9/2017 09:19:16 pm
I like how you raise the points about Cyberbullying. I think that teachers often dodge this topic because they are not always comfortable having the conversations. However, using an AUP to jumpstart the conversation is a good place to start. I think that schools need to be more proactive about how they deal with cycberbullying and this needs to start in the younger grades. Students are exposed to more and more at a younger age. Waiting until students are 10 or 11 is still far too long. Discussing netiquette and digital citizenship can start happening in first and second grade to prepare students for their online life. This approach will help stop some of the issues before they start. It is also not feasible to shift the responsibility to parents. Often they are either unaware of their child's online activities, or they too are having troubles navigating it themselves and are making their own mistakes. AUPs will not fix these issues, but are a positive place to start the conversations.
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Tami Lyons
12/4/2017 07:58:15 pm
Amazing! First, I did not realize October was National Cyberbullying Month-good to know. I think a lot of teachers avoid discussing cyberbullying at the lower elementary level, because they don't think children of 7 years of age are capable of it. I really enjoyed your blog
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