Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is where someone is being bullied through the internet, or some form of internet, for example bullying through MySpace, facebook, email, or instant messenger. As far as I can remember I’ve never been a victim of cyberbullying nor have I been a perpetuator. I think I’ve been able to stay away from this because I make sure to really pick and choose who my friends are on Facebook (and MySpace when I had one) and I also make sure that only people that are my friends have my instant messenger screen name. That way I can avoid any issues. I have gotten in fights with people over the internet but I’ve never been bullied.
Schools cannot control cyberbullying once the students go home. As soon as the students are off the school property the school is no longer allowed to monitor the students on goings. You can tell the students who are being objected to cyberbullying because they have become anxious, depressed, they suffer from low self-esteem, and are more likely to contemplate suicide. As of May 2, 2007 The Oregon Legislature amended House Bill 2637 to include cyberbullying to the provisions relating to school district policies on harassment, intimidation or bullying. I believe that schools should do all they can to encourage students to stay away from cyberbullying when they are at home.
In my classroom, during the first few weeks of school, when we are going through the rules, I will make sure to mention that bullying happens in more than one form. I will explain all the different forms of bullying, including cyberbullying and make sure that the students understand that no forms of bullying are acceptable. I will address it to the class as a whole and then as individual problems occur I will be talking to the students individually. Along with talking to my class I will be trying to get the whole school to become involved in this positive environment.