A couple of school districts have recently contacted me in a panic about how cyberbullying has been a major actionable issue for them since the start of the school year, but that they don’t know where to even begin (apart from amending the school policy to cover “electronic” variants of harassment). They realize that additional efforts and a multipronged approach will be most useful, but they are not sure as to what should be prioritized.
So, I’ve been pointing them to a new, helpful resource we’ve recently developed: the Cyberbullying Report Card. This downloadable document allows schools to gauge and benchmark their current position and ability to prevent and respond to Internet-based aggression among students. The findings from this Report Card can then be used as a springboard for specific initiatives, as it indicates where deficiencies exist. It should also prompt further consideration of other related strategies that might reduce the problem. Email or call us with your Report Card results, and let us know the next steps your district will take. We’ll give you feedback accordingly.
Love it. I need to give this to my wife to give to her prrincipal.
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I know our Colleges across the Nation should start tracking the amount of students that are targeted on JuicyCampus.com and the long term damage it is doing to our college students. Right now they have NOTHING to protect themselves from being a target of another angry student who wants to say whatever they feel like saying on JuicyCampus.com because it is covered under 1st amendment, Freedom of speech. The consumer act laws must change to protect our University students not these sleazy websites.
Prevention of any type of bullying should be a major focus of all school districts. The district that I work in has a bullying awareness program that starts in kindergarten. Grades K-6 are assigned the same book read by the teacher and discussed in the classroom. Every month the whole school is given a new book title that deals with bullying and Cyberbullying. Also the parents are sent home information regarding the book of the month and topics that can be reinforced at home. While this is a new program I feel it has already made the children more aware of what is acceptable behavior and other children have stepped up to support each other when they see a bullying situation. It is a district wide effort and has made an impact. My son who was in a private elementary school once was being bullied in middle school by another child. When I as a parent and teacher went up to his principal to discuss the matter his response was that this is part of growing up. I could not believe that an administrator in the education system today could have that comment and approach to the problem. This is why educating everyone is so important!