According to the 2009 Indicators of School Crime and Safety report, one third of teens report being bullied while at school. Bullying is a critical issue that has potentially detrimental effects on young people. The effects of being bullied are associated with youth developing depression and anxiety, and can even lead to suicide. In many cases, it already has.
In today’s society, bullying has evolved to adapt to the increasingly technological landscape. This is evident in bullying’s most recent form, cyberbullying. Cyberbullying involves using technology to bully or harass another individual by sending threatening, harassing, and/or hurtful pictures or messages. Both traditional bullying and cyberbullying are becoming increasingly prevalent amongst school-aged children. According to bullyingstatistics.org, more than 1 in 3 students have received cyberthreats online. More than 25% of students have been bullied repeatedly through texts or online. The majority of teachers have likely had some experience mediating conflicts between students that were ignited via popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
In light of recent reports of two students suffering from suicidal thoughts after being repeatedly bullied at Gilmor Elementary school, Chief Executive Officer Dr. Alonso of Baltimore City Public Schools released the following statements: "We have 83,000 kids, and any instance (of bullying) is unacceptable because my goal has been to have 83,000 kids graduate from high school. I don't believe that any single child can be sacrificed." Like Dr. Alonso, I agree that each incidence of bullying is hindering our students’ education and is dampening to their self-esteem. Families, schools, and communities should work in cohesion to address this issue, educate our children about its effects, and develop a solution.
Sources:
http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html
2 comments:
I completely agree bulling has taken on a whole new form with new technologies. I would even say it is more harmful, because people are willing to say things they would not say in person. In addition a you can edit and send pictures, and as the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words. I agree that steps need to be taken to educate students about bullying and its affects, and this needs to be a group effort involving students, parents, teachers, administrators, the community, and the district.
This issue actually led me to create a student Facebook account. I know there are some dissenting opinions about whether teachers should communicate with students online, but so many of our fights were stemming from Facebook that I felt a need to infiltrate that domain. I have to say, it's been a great decision so far. I've connected with past students, I'm able to monitor what's going on outside the classroom, and I can communicate with students who are absent or struggling in school. I haven't posted any personal information on the page, and I just put up one picture for the profile. Teachers definitely need to be careful, but I think these social media sites can be a great way for teachers to not only connect with students, but also anticipate and stop fights before they happen.
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