The previous posting may be found at https://boywriter.com/stand-up-to-bullies-how-to-be-an-upstander-to-cyberbullying-part-ii/
7. Teach digital citizenship and digital resilience
Given the amount of time that children spend online, it is clear that learning digital citizenship must be a critical part of every child’s educational development. Digital citizenship includes topics like online safety, netiquette, media balance, media literacy, digital footprint and of course, cyberbullying. It is recommended that these topics are addressed beginning in children as young as kindergarten. There are numerous resources online for students, teachers and parents.
Check YouTube for What is digital citizenship? From Common Sense Media
Recources for teachers
The NYC DOE defines responsibilities of parents and students as digital citizens: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/school-environment/digital-citizenship
ISTE Standard 2 is focused on digital citizenship: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
9th Grade: https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/what-you-send-in-that-moment-when
for students
Digital Passport games (3rd – 5th grade), Common Sense Media: https://www.digitalpassport.org/
for parents
CyberWise Cyber Civics Lessons: https://www.cyberwise.org/cyber-civics-homeschool
Internet Matters Digital Resilience resources: https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/digital-resilience-toolkit/
Parting Thoughts
As we conclude, the authors would like to share a relevant quote that we found meaningful from a well-known figure about the challenging topic of cyberbullying:
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, define yourself.” -Harvey Fierstein, Actor and Author
We totally agree with Harvey Fierstein. Our advice to students involved in bullying incidents is not to suffer in silence. Reach out to trusted adults, parents, teachers, and specialists for support for these painful experiences. If you witness another student being bullied, reach out to help in any way that you can. It will make a difference.
References
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2020, Febuary). Screen Time and Children. https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Watching-TV-054.aspx
Davis, S. & Nixon, C. (2010). The Youth Voice Research Project: Victimization & Strategies. https://njbullying.org/documents/YVPMarch2010.pdf.
Hawkins, D. L., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10(4), 512–527.
Pachin, J.W. & Hinduja, S. (2020). Tween cyberbullying in 2020. Cyberbullying Research Center & Cartoon Network. https://i.cartoonnetwork.com/stop-bullying/pdfs/CN_Stop_Bullying_Cyber_Bullying_Report_9.30.20.pdf.
Rideout, V., & Robb, M. B. (2019). The Common Sense census: Media use by tweens and teens, 2019. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media
Sevilla, V. (2019, June 23). Teaching Empathy in an Online Class. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/empathy-development-teaching-online-class.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Cyberbullying: what is it?. https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it