It is imperative that everyone who works with youth, but especially law enforcement officers, stay up-to-date on the ever-evolving state and local laws concerning online behaviors, and equip themselves with the skills and knowledge to intervene as necessary. In recent survey of approximately 500 school resource officers from around the United States, we found that…
Dr. Steve Taffee, Director of Strategic Projects at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California, has recently posted a very detailed, honest, and helpful review about our cyberbullying book. He has given me permission to share it with our blog readers, and so I have included it below: With Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding…
We’ve discussed different elements of the Phoebe Prince case a number of times on this blog. Recall that Phoebe was the 15-year-old girl who committed suicide in January after being bullied and cyberbullied. She moved to South Hadley, Massachusetts, from Ireland at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. Being the new girl, she had…
What should you do if your child bullies others online? Elizabeth Englander, our colleague at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, provided an excellent response to this question in her answer to a parent who commented on the recent New York Times article. First of all, parents need to approach this problem like any other: with…
What should you do if your child bullies others online? Elizabeth Englander, our colleague at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, provided an excellent response to this question in her answer to a parent who commented on the recent New York Times article. First of all, parents need to approach this problem like any other: with…
In a recent New York Times article, reporter Jan Hoffman aptly and comprehensively articulated the challenges associated with responding to cyberbullying incidents. Schools don’t want to overstep their legal authority by responding to off-campus behaviors that don’t directly impact the school; law enforcement officers aren’t going to get involved unless there is a clear violation…
As we work with youth-serving organizations across the nation, we often hear about how the resources we post on our web site are used. I was in New Hampshire last week, and heard that schools there makes laminated copies of our activities for kids (such as our crossword puzzle, word find, and word scramble), and…
I have recently been chatting with Dr. Linda Young – whose work I greatly respect – about the topic of “humor limits.” In our trainings to youth-serving professionals, Justin and I discuss how teaching adolescents when comments made cross over a line and no longer are “funny” but are “abusive” and harmful. For example, the…
The Committee on Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities heard testimony today about how teens are using and misusing technology, with a specific focus on cyberbullying and social networking. A full web cast of the testimony can be found here. The witnesses included a health care provider, an Internet safety advocate, a…
I hardly ever blog about my upcoming presentations, but I am particularly excited about my next one and so I thought I would let you know about it. I am giving a keynote at the annual Stop Girl Bullying Conference this Sunday in San Antonio, Texas, and hope that you can come if you are…
We have long thought that one of the best ways to deal with cyberbullying (from prevention through intervention) is to involve teens. Including youth is essential in any comprehensive and coordinated community response to cyberbullying. Earlier in the week Sameer posted a blog discussing the ways that older teens can be used to mentor their…
The concept of peer mentoring generally involves older students advising and counseling younger students about issues affecting them. Since younger adolescents tend to look up to (and seek to emulate) older adolescents, this dynamic can be exploited to teach important lessons about the use of computers and communications technology. Peer mentoring has been fruitful in…
We have more great news concerning our book: the National Crime Prevention Council has chosen to feature it as its June 2010 Book Club selection! Part of this feature involves an extensive interview, where I discussed in detail how each and every person can take an active role in the prevention of cyberbullying and online…
The Online Safety and Technical Working Group just released their comprehensive report “Youth Safety on a Living Internet” detailing the current state of knowledge, practice, and tools regarding safeguarding our youth while they explore technology. The Report focused primarily on identifying industry efforts to promote online safety through education, technology, content, and other measures. In…
Blue Mountain School District v. J.S. and Layshock v. Hermitage School District. These are two cases that we have discussed quite frequently on this blog. We have been waiting a long time to receive clarification from a high court regarding the circumstances under which schools can discipline students for their off-campus online speech and we…
I have been talking a lot lately about online reputation with teens. I think it is important for youth to recognize that anything they put online and anything they do offline that gets posted online, could end up being immortalized on the World Wide Web. I advise students to start thinking about their online reputation…
Sameer and I are proud to report that ForeWord Reviews has selected our book, “Bullying beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying” as the 2009 Book of the Year in the Education category. As noted on their web site, the award is based on the following criteria: editorial excellence, intent of book met by…
Sameer and I are proud to report that ForeWord Reviews has selected our book, “Bullying beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying” as the 2009 Book of the Year in the Education category. As noted on their web site, the award is based on the following criteria: editorial excellence, intent of book met by…
If you look at any “Top Ten List of Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe Online” that you find on the Internet, no doubt one of the recommendations that you will find near the top is: “Keep the family computer in a common area of the house.” While this is sage advice, it is also…
If you look at any “Top Ten List of Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe Online” that you find on the Internet, no doubt one of the recommendations that you will find near the top is: “Keep the family computer in a common area of the house.” While this is sage advice, it is also…
Our colleague Anne Collier from NetFamilyNews made us aware of an email that Anthony Orsini, a middle school principal from New Jersey, sent to parents a couple of weeks ago imploring them to prohibit their children from participating in social networking sites. As reported on CBS and elsewhere, the letter Orsini sent to parents included…
Formspring.me, launched in November 2009, is a user-to-user question and answer web site. If you sign up, the site presents visitors to your page with the ability to anonymously ask you anything via a web form. You can then post your answer, along with the question, for all to see. A benefit of Formspring is…
I was featured on *Audio Ed* to discuss in detail how administrators, teachers, and staff can prevent and respond to cyberbullying among school students. Please click here to download and listen (8 minutes, MP3 file). Justin and I are passionate about training and working with public districts as well as private schools to meaningfully inform…
I recently appeared on WNYMedia’s “Parent Talk” radio show to discuss what parents can do to protect their child from online harassment. Please click here to download and listen (47 minutes, MP3 file), and let me know if you have any follow-up questions!