NPR Podcast

I listened to several different podcasts on the NPR website affiliated with public radio. I found this website to be very interesting.  There were many different topics you could search and listen to podcasts.  I mostly listened to the podcasts dealing with education and schools. I enjoyed listening to the podcasts because all of them were uniquely different. They weren't necessarily dealing with curriculum, but issues that arise in schools.

For example, I listened to the podcast on Cyberbullying, since it is a "current" topic in today's media.  This podcast was not about how kids are cyberbullying but TEACHERS being the victims of cyberbullying.  There was a teacher in a school in the states that was a victim of cyberbullying and a student of his, made up a fake twitter account about him.  This account made the teacher look like a violent person with inappropriate images and displaying him as a drug and sexual addict.  The student then made many tweets on the teacher's behalf which were very unprofessional and inappropriate.  This occurred in North Carolina and a new law had just been passed in this state.  The new North Carolina law states that it is a crime to torment and intimidate teachers online.  Therefore this student could receive up to a month in jail and a $1000 fine for doing this.

However, the student was only given a "slap on the hand" and left alone.  The law is so broad that no criminal charges could be given.  However, the student confessed and as a result,  the teacher decided not to press charges but soon after resigned from the job.

This just proves that students can target not only their peers, but their teachers of bullying online.  Students are young and may make silly mistakes online, but it is considered detrimental when a student is attempting to harm the reputation of a teacher.

http://www.npr.org/sections/education/