Cyber Bullying



Source: https://carmoongroup.com/cyberbullying-insurance-now-available-in-the-u-s/

Several things caught my eye this week as I was reading the journals and browsing the cyber bullying resources. First of all, bullying is not just done by the typical bully often portrayed on the movies. We’ve all seen portrayals like this...a huge kid with a deep voice who is so strong he can lift up his/her victim with one hand. In reality, cyber bullies are often known as “good” kids and they often do not “look” like they are bully by old standards. Some cyber bullies may act completely innocent in real life but are mean as snakes behind a screen. In fact, cyber bullying can be “...carried out by individuals, who may not normally attract the attention of counselors and /or school administrators.” (Faucher et al., 2015, p.111).

I think reading about cyber bullying in different stages of life stood out to me as well. The term cyber bullying or bullying automatically makes me think of teenagers on their phones. I guess I never thought of it being a problem in higher education. I believe this is because when I was in college, Facebook first came out and MySpace was huge as well. But people didn't have as much access to it, as internet on cell phones was not the norm. Certainly it was not common to have a camera on a cell phone either. The tragic suicide death of Tyler Clementi, a victim of cyber bullying at Rutgers University was shocking and proved that it is definitely a problem in higher education (Faucher et al., 2015, P.111). I think that it was good to read about cyber bullying in the workplace as well. It is try that it can happen in all stages of life, from early childhood throughout life.

I believe that it is vital to teach these lessons in schools. Since my dream job is to be an elementary librarian I am thinking about how I can incorporate cyber bullying lessons into library lessons by taking advantage of the cyber bullying resources toolkit on the Common Sense Education site. They have so any free lesson plans, videos, and printables for this topic. I think it is also important to inform the parents and give them a presentation on things to look for to keep tabs on their child to make sure they notice signs if their child is being bullied, or if they are the ones bullying. Definitions are important to both students and parents such as the definition highlighted in the Faucher et al. article (2015, p 112). 

Bullying: repeated aggressive behaviors that are intended to cause harm to a victim with relatively less power to defend themselves

The following YouTube Video explains cyber bullying:

Source: https://www.callnerds.com/wp-content/uploads/Bullying-Infographic.png

It was surprising to learn about workplace cyber bullying. When I think of the term cyber bullying, the first thing that comes to my mind is teenagers, not adults in the workplace. However, it absolutely happens in the workplace through email, social media, and other forms of digital communication. Just like raising awareness in school about it is importance, awareness in the workplace is important too! Many workplaces require safety training, sometimes face to face but most of the time through online modules. This is true at my job too! It would be beneficial to add this to the training. There are so many other videos and modules that we have to complete, but absolutely none on cyber bullying, what it is, how to identify it, how to report it, etc. This needs to change!

References:

Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015). 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), 111-125