So cyberbullying seems terrible yet inevitable. With the growing dependency on technology and the increased access to it what did we really expect? The parent involvement part in some cases does really surprise me but it really shouldn't considering some of the things I have seen and heard of parents doing.
Cyberbullying is basically the new and improved yet more vindictive and malicious version of the slam book (I really hope I am not dating myself too much by using that term!). The slam book was passed all around the school and everyone worthy had the chance to write in it. It was where you learned who had the biggest boobs (and who stuffed their bras),who was the best dancer, who was the best kisser and who would never let you find out, who wrote love letters who was a bullshitter. I really wish I could remember more of the pages but I remember the stigma attached. To be listed in the slam book was a great fear, but not to be listed was even worse. Teenagers are going to gossip and there is nothing we can do about it. I have never been a cyberbully and I have never been cyberbullied, but I completely understand the concept.
I really think it is unfair to place the regulation of cyberbullying on the teachers, because it is largely out of our control. Teenagers gossip and they are terrible to each other and unfortunately that is just a part of growing up. Teachers in my schools growing up tried to stop the slam books but we found more and more ways to hide them. The more the teachers tried to stop us the more elusive and cool it became to pass the books.
I am not saying we should be blind to bullying of any sort, I think we need to keep our eyes and ears open as teachers to anything that we think is a potential problem or to anything that crosses the line. We should address problems in class if they arise, but I do not plan on spending my nights and weekends as a teacher perusing my students' facebook pages for evidence of bullying.
I remember the slam book too! It was crazy, and I grew up in a small town! You are so right when it comes to dealing with the gossip and such, it is going to happen no matter what, we just need to be able to help out when needed. I to do not want to spend my time searching for crud on their pages!!
ReplyDeleteUh-oh, I don't remember slam books. Maybe I was never cool enough to get included? Maybe the worried I'd narc them? I'll just choose to think I was not in a school where they were popular.
ReplyDeleteI think you are correct that our power as teachers is limited and trying to censor the internet postings and texting of our students is doomed to failure. I think our best influence will come by not ignoring it and some way tacitly endorsing it (the whole silence is the voice of complicity thing) but rather speaking out from the outset about the specifics of how we define personal respect and responsibility. We can make it an explicit part of our classroom than harassment is not the way people treat each other, that it is a tool by those who seek to feel strong by making others look weak and that one doesn't have to endure it. It won't eliminate the bullying, but hopefully it will help keep it in check.