by Kristen Plemon
Educators have always had to deal with bullying on school grounds. From verbal insults to playground violence, bullying has been an issue of school safety for years. But cyberbullying seems to pose a more complex challenge, and quite possibly more damaging effects, than other types of bullying, given the anonymous nature of the Web, new tools that make it easy for anyone to publish text, photos and video, and the prevalence of digital devices in children's lives. Cyberbullying is a serious problem that can't be ignored. Research indicates that more than half of all teens have experienced cyberbullying. One in four students have had it happen more than once.
A white paper from Lightspeed Systems offers best practices for educators to help prevent cyberbullying, including:
- Address cyberbullying in acceptable use policies that students might sign on an annual basis.
- Educate students on what cyberbullying is, why it is not tolerated, and the consequences of cyberbullying behavior, as well as provide guidelines for acceptable, respectful communications online.
- Prevent the use of inappropriate sites or the sending of inappropriate messages by blocking or limiting access to such sites. Some Web filters allow you to set specific permissions based on grade level, classroom, or even the individual. Because students are often tech-savvy, the Web filter should employ sophisticated means to prevent users from bypassing the filter through proxy tunnels. (*Since this can't prevent access 100% percent of the time, a critical component of Internet safety measures is education.)
- Monitor Internet use to assess adherence to acceptable use policies and adjust as needed. Early identification of cyberbullying behavior can minimize the impact and consequences of the behavior.
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