Parent Information Night: Social Media & Cyberbullying

Parent Information Night

Social Media & Cyberbullying

September 23, 2013

Our Focus Tonight Understanding Cyberbullying

Popular forms of Social Media

Prevention Steps at School

Prevention Steps at Home

Part 1 Understanding Cyberbullying




Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites.

Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.

(Kwan & Skoric, 2013)

1. Flaming: Angry and vulgar online exchanges.

2. Harassment: Repeated sending of nasty and insulting messages to the victim.


3. Denigration: Spreading of rumors and gossiping to damage someone’s reputation or friendship.

4. Impersonation: To cause someone to get into trouble or to damage someone’s reputation by pretending to be that person and sending material on that person’s behalf.


5. Outing: Sharing secrets or humiliating information of another person on the Internet.

6. Trickery: Convincing someone to share humiliating information and making it available online.


7. Exclusion: To intentionally exclude someone from an online group in order to cause hurt to the person.

8. Cyberstalking: To repeatedly harass someone such that the person feels threatened or afraid.

Kids who are being cyberbullied are often bullied in person as well. Additionally, kids who are cyberbullied have a harder time getting away from the behavior.

Cyberbullying can happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and reach a kid even when he or she is alone. It can happen any time of the day or night.

Cyberbullying messages and images can be posted anonymously and distributed quickly to a very wide audience. It can be difficult and sometimes impossible to trace the source.

Deleting inappropriate or harassing messages, texts, and pictures is extremely difficult after they have been posted or sent.

Slonje et al. (2012) investigated the difference of remorse felt by students after bullying others.

70% of those who had only traditionally bullied others reported feeling remorse after their actions.

Only 42% of those who had only cyberbullied others reported the same.

Cell phones and computers themselves are not to blame for cyberbullying. Social media sites can be used for positive activities, like connecting kids with friends and family, helping students with school, and for entertainment.

But these tools can also be used to hurt other people. Whether done in person or through technology, the effects of bullying are similar.

Kids who are cyberbullied are more likely to:

- Use alcohol and drugs

- Skip school

- Experience in-person bullying

- Be unwilling to attend school

- Receive poor grades

- Have lower self-esteem

- Have more health problems

Cyberbullying is an intense form of psychological abuse, whose victims are more than twice as likely to suffer from mental disorders compared to traditional bullying.

At least four children between the ages of 12 and 13 have committed suicide due to depression brought on by cyberbullying. These would include the suicide of Rebecca Sedwick and the suicide of Megan Meier, the latter of which resulted in United States v. Lori Drew.

Stopbullying.gov reports that

“Media reports often link bullying with suicide. However, most youth who are bullied do not have thoughts of suicide or engage in suicidal behaviors. Although kids who are bullied are at risk of suicide, bullying alone is not the cause. Many issues contribute to suicide risk, including depression, problems at home, and trauma history.”

Cyberbullying is a global phenomenon with estimates of 6-18% of European youths experiencing some form of online bullying (Görzig & Frumkin, 2013).

A study of social media use in Singapore found that 59% of youth on Facebook reported one form of Facebook bullying within the current year (Kwan & Skoric, 2013).

The 2008–2009 School Crime Supplement (National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics) indicates that 6% of students in grades 6–12 experienced cyberbullying.

The 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey finds that 16% of high school students (grades 9-12) were electronically bullied in the past year.

Regarding cybervictims, Livingstone et al. (2011) found that the biggest risk factor of being bullied online was to bully others online.

They concluded that being bullied online may be seen as two-way interaction where children bully others and are bullied themselves. This was especially seen between girls (Slonje, Smith & Frisén, 2013).





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Children who use social networking sites are:

46% more likely to have received sexual messages

55% more likely to have seen sexual images on websites

56% more likely to have encountered negative user generated content

(Staksrud, Ólafsson & Livingstone 2013)

Children who use social networking sites are:

114% more likely to have been bullied on the internet

163% more likely to have met people offline that they had only met online before

(Staksrud, Ólafsson & Livingstone 2013)





Jurisdiction of the School District

By Missouri law we are only able to deal with issues that occur during the school day, at school sponsored events, or on district transportation. An exception to this provision would be if an off-campus student conduct led to a substantial disruption of the learning environment (examples: teachers can’t teach, rampant gossip, classroom disruptions, verbal confrontations, students can’t learn).

Intervening with Cyberbullying

Parent Prevention Times Anytime problem behavior occurs off campus from the time your child departs the bus in the afternoon, until they board the bus in the morning. School Prevention Times Anytime problem behavior occurs “on campus” from the time your child boards the bus in the morning, until they depart in the afternoon.

Ongoing Instruction & Prevention

Our school uses evidence-based bully prevention

curriculum materials from Olweus. The Olweus

Bully Prevention Program is a world-renowned

program designed to reduce bullying and create

a safe and caring school environment.

Two curriculum guide books from Hazelden

publishing are used at our school for Tiger Hour

lessons, “Classroom Meetings That Matter 6-8”

and “Cyber bullying Curriculum for Grades

6-12.”

http://tigerpbis.blogspot.com/

http://tigerpbis.blogspot.com/

Social Skill Lesson Schedules




6th Grade ELT Lesson on Sept. 16-17

7/8 Grade ELT Lesson on Sept. 16-18

Monday (9/16) Give your students the pre-test, cyberbullying quiz and worksheet. Grade and discuss quiz. Tuesday (9/17) Cyberbullying video (20 minutes in length); discusses most of the issues facing teens on social networks. A handout related to the video lesson was provided. Wednesday (9/18) Olweus lessons (7th – pg. 99; 6th – pg. 40) Cyberbullying lesson (8th – pg. 58)

Faculty Prevention Teams at ESMS

Photo: Submitted from the Bully Prevention Meeting on September 9, 2013.

Student Leadership at ESMS

Courage Up FCCLA Jr. Optimist Club PBS Student Leadership Team STEALTH Where Everybody Belongs





Talk with your kids about cyberbullying and other online issues regularly.

Know the sites your kids visit and their online activities. Ask where they’re going, what they’re doing, and who they’re doing it with.

Tell your kids that as a responsible parent you may review their online communications if you think there is reason for concern.

Installing parental control filtering software or monitoring programs are one option for monitoring your child’s online behavior, but do not rely solely on these tools.

Have a sense of what they do online and in texts. Learn about the sites they like. Try out the devices they use.

Ask for their passwords, but tell them you’ll only use them in case of emergency.

Ask to “friend” or “follow” your kids on social media sites or ask another trusted adult to do so.

Encourage your kids to tell you immediately if they, or someone they know, is being cyberbullied. Explain that you will not take away their computers or cell phones if they confide in you about a problem they are having.

Establish rules about appropriate use of computers, cell phones, and other technology. For example, be clear about what sites they can visit and what they are permitted to do when they’re online. Show them how to be safe online.

Help them be smart about what they post or say. Tell them not to share anything that could hurt or embarrass themselves or others. Once something is posted, it is out of their control whether someone else will forward it.

Encourage kids to think about who they want to see the information and pictures they post online. Should complete strangers see it? Real friends only? Friends of friends? Think about how people who aren’t friends could use it.

Tell kids to keep their passwords safe and not share them with friends. Sharing passwords can compromise their control over their online identities and activities.

When cyberbullying happens, it is important to document and report the behavior so it can be addressed.

Tell an adult.

Studies have found that few students actually seek help from others; a consistent finding is that if they do tell somebody, their first choice has been to tell a friend, then a parent and lastly a teacher (Slonje, Smith & Frisén, 2013).

Don’t respond to and don’t forward cyberbullying messages.

Keep evidence of cyberbullying. Record the dates, times, and descriptions of instances when cyberbullying has occurred. Save and print screenshots, emails, and text messages. Use this evidence to report cyberbullying to web and cell phone service providers.

Most importantly… Block the person who is cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying often violates the terms of service established by social media sites and internet service providers.

Review their terms and conditions or rights and responsibilities sections. These describe content that is or is not appropriate.

Visit social media safety centers to learn how to block users and change settings to control who can contact you.

Report cyberbullying to the social media site so they can take action against users abusing the terms of service.

When cyberbullying involves these activities it is considered a crime and should be reported to law enforcement:

- Threats of violence

- Child pornography or sending sexually explicit messages or photos

- Taking a photo or video of someone in a place where he or she would expect privacy

- Stalking and hate crimes

Cyberbullying can create a disruptive environment at school and is often related to in-person bullying. The school can use the information to help inform prevention and response strategies.

Understand School Rules - ESSD has developed policies on uses of technology that may affect the child’s online behavior in and out of the classroom.

Sgt. Paul White – 630-9210

Excelsior Springs High School

Sgt. Jeff Kimsey - 630-9230

Excelsior Springs Middle School