Our Internet for Educators class recently had John Finch in to talk with our class about some of the issues that education is facing in result of the internet. However, the interesting part of Mr. Finch's discussion was some of the misconceptions of certain issues in which the internet is looked upon as the "bad guy" when it really hasn't played a part. For example, John spoke about cyber bullying and how there is a big commotion today about how cyber bullying has escalated within the past few years. Truth is, (and the data is proof to show it) is that there is not a significant percent of students being bullied on the internet. Most of the bullying is happening physically within schools or even crazier, being done by teachers!
Cyber bullying is the smallest source of the bullying spectrum in schools ranging from approximately 8-12% of students. Even though there is a significant hype about cyber bullying within media and the news, it is affecting only a small portion of students. Cyber bullying, in my opinion, does need to be addressed to students within the schools and its cause and implications it has for students. But, the data has proven that we do not need to solely blame all bullying to internet perpetrators, but also to the school environment and atmosphere. I do believe it is necessary to have workshops and professional development (for both students and educators) on the issue of cyber bullying because it is an issue that may cause bigger issues in the future.
The following is a video from danah boyd about teenagers who are living and learning with social media:
As a pre-service teacher, it is also important to understand the new copyright and also online privacy of your students. Teachers need to remember that they cannot simply receive a "yes" from students to publish their work online or for others to see. Parents need to be involved in the process and written informed consent needs to be given from guardians in order to use their child's work online.
danah boyd also presents her thoughts and opinions of student's privacy online.
I think everyone was shocked about the cyber bullying statistic. I found it quite interesting how the media can blow something like this way out of proportion, and as people who will be in the schools (where most bullying takes place) we don't even know the proper statistics. I agree we need to still be educated on the issue (knowledge is power) because there is potential for it to be a larger issue in the future.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised with the cyber bullying statistics too! I think it is still important to be aware that cyber bullying does happen- but it's good to know that other forms of bullying are happening a lot more than we think!
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