Cyberbullying in the School Library
One of the biggest challenges in combating cyberbullying is the rapidly changing social media technology. It seems like apps are introduced so quickly it is impossible to know what students are using and how they are using it. For example, when my children were in school, I knew about the big 3 (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) but then they came home talking about the anonymous site, Yik-Yak. As a school librarian, it will be vital to be vigilant about what new apps the students are using but more importantly, the enormous number of places cyberbullying can occur illustrates the importance of teaching students digital citizenship skills that can be applied in any on-line situation. As the research shows in Faucher, Cassidy & Jackson (2015) bullying does not stop when children leave school, it continues into post-secondary institutions and the workplace.
I think it is important to create a culture of acceptance and kindness in the school library. Building relationships with the students, teachers, administrators and staff in the school by getting to know individual names along with their interests is a daunting task if I am in a big school, but one that is valuable. It is especially important that I build relationships with students that are marginalized and vulnerable. As a substitute, I have witnessed bullying and immediately discussed the situation with the bully and the victim privately. At times, I have had to involve another teacher and the administration. In the classroom, I make it clear to my students that bullying and being unkind to others is not acceptable. I try to model this behavior in the classroom.
Bullying is not a topic that can be addressed once a year. The Screenshots curriculum used in the research conducted by Bickham, Moukalled, Inyart & Zlokower (2021) is completed in nine lessons, but aspects should be revisited frequently. Given the popularity of YouTube, videos such as We are all Daniel Ciu (2013)
and With a Piece of Chalk (2012)
could be used to revisit the topic and give students the opportunity to discuss what happened in the video, why it happened and how the bullying was addressed. Another video the students may relate to shows celebrities that have been bullied.
Bickham D.S., Moukalled S., Inyart H.K., & Zlokower R. (2021). Evaluating a Middle-School Digital Citizenship Curriculum (Screenshots): Quasi-Experimental Study. JMIR Mental Health, 8(9). https://mental.jmir.org/2021/9/e26197
Buchanan, H. (2013, March 5). Facebook Stories – We are all Daniel Ciu. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJNrNVpyzSE
Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015). From the sandbox to the inbox: Comparing the acts, impacts, and solutions of bullying in k-12, higher education, and the workplace. Journal Of Education And Training Studies, 3(6), 111-125.
JuBaFilms. (2012, August 5). With a Piece of Chalk [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBZAFJ-Q6Mw
watchwellcast. (2013, January 6). Ways to Stop Bullying. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTuA_tlZDE
It is extremely important, as you pointed out, for educators to try and get to know their students as best that they can. I think that by doing this, it creates an opening for students to talk to adults who can help if they are experiencing problems with cyberbullying, or if they are upset to the point that they are attempting to be a cyberbully. When that connection is made, students feel and understand that educators are there to help and it shows that they care about them individually too.
ReplyDeleteI agree that social media has grown rapidly which has contributed to the issue of cyberbullying. I love that you mentioned talks about bullying need to be frequent and the importance of kindness and acceptance. We can model what appropriate behavior looks like in our space and read books that help promote that idea.
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