Cyberbullying

Recently, I had a student out for over 4 weeks who joined class virtually. This was not out of the norm, but I was a little worried and made sure that she knew I missed and cared for her. When she finally was back I learned that she attempted taking her own life due to bullying. Online and in school, this student had seemingly no safe space to retreat to and until they started therapy did not know how to reach out for help. Even with the push for SEL learning, (Social Emotional Learning) bullying is still a part of the middle school climate and we as school stakeholders need to be mindful of what and where it takes place. 

A school wide program covering empathy and digital citizenship can help prevent the uptick issues.   Simple education and shedding light on what  the effects of bullying can be.   As an educator and librarian I can use the library as a center for both passive and active lessons surrounding bullying.

 The Victim AND the Bully should be the focus as just creating disciplinary action may not address the whole situation.  Using Social Justice programs and talking about the issue can bring to light the real "Why" it is being done. Involving your student stakeholders are just as important.   

Educators can use technology to aid in their prevention.  Programs like report it, Go Guardian and Gaggle can give educators the edge and evidence they might need to combat Cyber bullying in the classroom.   This Education World Article discusses some of these program.   

Education World article

Finally, having programming about spreading kindness, bridging differences and lifting up others should be another prong to combatting all bullying.