9. 15 Strategies Educators Can Use to Stop Cyberbullying

With the increased use of technology in the home and in schools, a form of bullying called "cyberbullying" is becoming more prominent.  In the article 15 Strategies Educators Can Use to Stop Cyberbullying, the author describes cyberbullying and lists important strategies for both preventing and resolving this threat.  Cyberbullying emerges in many forms on the Internet - harassment, derogatory remarks, fighting or "flaming," deception, cruelty, impersonation, stalking, or sexting, for example.  Cyberbullying starts early, unfortunately; it is important to raise awareness and to promote prevention.  From a personal perspective, I have recently had to deal with harassment from a person I didn't even know simply for being new to a community and being unfamiliar with certain norms.  Because the Internet is such a big part of the lives of modern children, it is of great importance for both children and adults to understand the risks of interacting with others online.

The first step in fighting the problem of cyberbullying is to teach children to be good citizens even while online.  Many people will say and do things online that they would never have done in person due to the perception of anonymity and the inability to respond to others on the Internet as people on the other side of a screen somewhere.  Teaching children to respond appropriately to abuse and to encourage good citizenship in others is the first step toward lessening the threat of cyberbullying.  Children and adults alike need to be aware of the threat of cyberbullying and to be able to communicate about potential situations that may arise.

Before teachers can help students to understand cyberbullying, they must be understanding of it themselves.  Many teachers are unsure of their ability to fight against cyberbullying; therefore, it is of great importance to educate the educators about what they can do.  There are resources out there, including informational packets and lesson plans.  Parents and the community should also be involved in fighting against cyberbullying.  When everyone comes together to create a plan for fighting cyberbullying, we can help to protect our youth and to to create digital citizens.