Cyberbullying

Cyberbully: (n.) anyone who repeatedly misuses technology to harass, intimidate, bully, or terrorize another person.

Forms of Cyberbullying:
1. inapprpriate and harmful rumors
2. threats sent through texts, facebook, emails, instant messages, website posts, etc., with the sender often anonymous or disguised as someone else
3. uploaded images without the consent of the subject of the image

What can parents do?
Parents have the most power and leverage to guide their children's activiteies in cyberspace. You should not tolereate in cyberspace behaviors that you would not tolerate from your children, or from other people's children, in your own home. Children should know that they can loose their online priviledges at the fist sign of misuse.

1. Become more involved with the ways in which their children use technology.
2. Keep Internet-accessible computers in an area where everyone the family congregates, making being vigilent easier
3. Sit down with children and talk about the do's and don'ts of each new piece of technology brought into the house
4. Emphasize that "real" life and "online" life are one and the same
5. The key is to start the discussion early. When making decisions with your five-year-old, project ten years down the road. This decision will make it easier for you to intervene when your child is fifteen.

What students need to know?
1. The rules governing the use of technology and warnings for potential offenders. Know the SMS Acceptable Use Policy.
2. No computer or mobile phone is really anonymous. Each time someone accesses the Internet, they generate an electronic fingerprint called an IP (Internet Protocal addresses), which authorities can use to trace all electronic communication from computers or mobile phones. Communication in cyberspace leaves a trail.
3. Behaviors in cyberspace are downloadable, printable, and sometimes punishablel by law.

Resouces for Promoting Online Citizenship
The International Society for Technology in Education has developed National Educational Technology Standards for administrators, teachers, and students. Standard Six of the NETS for teachers describes the social, ethical, legal, and human issues realted to technology use.

Safeguarding the Wired School is a project of the Consortium for School Networking. It offers resources to help educaotrs understand the issues involved in managing Internet content and create positve online experiences for students.

i-Safe, a non-profit foundations whose mission is to educate and empower youth to make their Internet experience sage and responsible, provides a free online professional development program for educators, law enforcement personnel, and community members, as well as a free K-12 curriculum for students. Students can become "i-Mpontors" and educate their peers about online dangers.

Parents Guide to the Internet posted by the U.S. Department of Education, includes a Tips for Safe Traveling link that recommends steps parents should take to guide their children to appropriate activites on the information superhighway.

SearchEngines.com provides a page addressing Child-Safe Searching on the Web. It's designed to give parents an overview of safe searching and provide information about available defense methods, such as kids' seach engines and browser controls.

CyberSmart! Education Company provides a free K-8 curriculum, copublished wih Macmillan/McGraw Hill, that contains 65 lesson plans with student activity sheets, posters, and information for parents. The curriculum addresses such topics as Internet safety, manners, research, and advertising. The company also provides free-based training resources for educators.

NetSmartz is an interactive Website with entertaining actvities that teachers can use to educate students about how to stay safe online. This site was created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Boys and Girls Club of America.

Surfswell Island: Adventures in Internet Safety provides a series of interactive games, featuring Disney characters, that teach children about issues of online privacy, virus awareness, and online manners. The site includes a parent's guide and a teacher's guide.