How can you teach students to prevent cyberbullying?

Educate students about what cyberbullying is, its consequences, and the impact it can have on individuals. Discuss real-life examples and encourage empathy towards victims. Teach students about the importance of being responsible online citizens. Emphasize the need to respect others' feelings, privacy, and boundaries while using digital platforms. Create a safe space where students feel comfortable discussing their experiences or concerns related to cyberbullying. Encourage them to report any incidents they witness or experience themselves. Set clear expectations for appropriate online behavior and establish consequences for cyberbullying incidents. Ensure that students understand the school's policies regarding cyberbullying.

Itcludes repeatedly sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, or mean content about someone else on Purpose.C Cyberbullying differs from n fel harder to escape because it can happen anywhere, anytime. It's also harder to detect because so much of kids' digital media use is not monitored by adults. At the same time, cyberbullying can also be very public: rge numbers of people online can see what's happening and even gang up on the target. Though the target is usually exposed publicly, the people doing the cyberbullying can hide who they are by posting anonymously or using pseudonyms. A since cyberbullying isn't face-to-face, the one doing the bullying may not see or even understand the implications of their Actions.

I always look for current cases reported in the media or cases that happened in the city, neighborhood or with people close to me. I carry out debates and analyzes so that we can understand together what the feelings involved were and how the negative results could have been avoided.

Bullying involves a triad of individuals: the bully, the victim, and the witness(es). The role of witnesses is often underestimated, yet their response significantly influences whether the bullying persists. It is crucial to educate all three parties about what constitutes bullying and the potential harm it inflicts on victims. Some bullies may be unaware that their actions qualify as bullying, mistaking it for banter. It's essential to differentiate between banter and bullying. Victims should be equipped with strategies to avoid bullies and to cease providing the reactions bullies seek. Witnesses, too, need education on how their response can either halt or perpetuate the bullying.

Teaching empathy is definitely something that is a struggle with today's students. I definitely find that it is easier for them to relate when the information is real and relevant to their lives. They are more engaged and willing to listen if they can relate to it somehow.

The term Digital literacy is somtimes used, though Media Literacy is a broader term encompassing the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and interact with all forms of media, also learn about the larger context in which media exists. Media literacy includes the sub areas of Digital Citizenship and Digital Wellness; Digital Citizenship teaches people how to use digital media responsibly and safely, while Digital Wellness looks at the physical/mental health implications of digital media use, encourages intentional media use aligned with health goals. A growing number of states are requiring schools to teach media literacy including digital literacy,digital citizenship/wellness and safety, and many teaching resources are available.

There is a Google project/program that deals with Digital Citizenship. Whenever I can, I provide them with the experience of this program through games so that they learn, among other factors of digital citizenship, how to behave ethically on the internet.

I find that educating parents can be just as important as educating the students. While schools have monitoring software to spot and alert administration if students are searching for alarming things, parents do not typically have access to these programs. Therefore, helping parents to understand what students have access to both in and out of school is important. While social media platforms and other sites have a "13 and older" or "18 and older" policy, it's very easy for minors to just type a fake birthdate. Schools cannot monitor 24/7 but we can help parents to know the signs.

Personally the first thing I do when I'm with students and want to talk about cyberbullying is we first do an exercise which I call "Name the feeling." I get every child to express how they're feeling at the moment and ask other child to give a name to that feeling. We all get to discuss the mentioned feeling, it's outward appearance on the child feeling it and how it can be recognised and handled when seen. With this each students is able to recognise a feeling on another student, name it and be well able to approach and relate with the other student carrying this feeling. The ability for student to be able to name their emotions and that of others is the first step of tackling cyberbullying. with this they tread with care and empathy