The Many Faces of Cyber Bullying

Recently I attended a presentation on 'The Many Faces of Cyber Bullying', it was informative. I had not imagined previously how many ways someone could bully or be bullied through technology. The ability to remain truly anonymous online is slimmer, but I feel that the lack of face to face interaction allows a sense of anonymity which may encourage a lack of accountability. Teaching our young people responsible use of technology and how to be a good digital citizen is the responsibility of every adult in their lives. As far as in the classroom goes, there were some good scenarios presented to the group at the presentation. I found that I was quicker to seek outside help than some of my peers. Perhaps they feel more versed in this transformation of bullying? Perhaps not. Regardless their responses have encouraged reflection upon my responses and how I truly feel about bullying in any form. Dependent upon how this un-welcome activity takes place in my classroom I will react appropriately. Thanks to my peers I will consider my reaction more deeply and without emotion before I approach the 'what to do' portion of intervention. I would like to remedy the situation with as little impact to the rest of the class as possible. So in short my steps for stopping cyber bullying in my classroom would be (in general, there may be special situations) 1. Address the action 2. Make the action stop. 3. Set the rest of the class to an activity. 4. Discuss the issue with offenders.  If it needs to go further than that or they are non-compliant or violent, I will seek outside help (administration and above).  The last thing I would want in my classroom is alienation, anything that makes my student artists feel as though it is not a safe place to express themselves, or a safe place to be is unacceptable. This includes students who may cause trouble, I do not want them to feel alienated but I want them to understand that unacceptable behavior is not tolerated in the classroom.