Cyberbullying: Neither an Epidemic nor a Rarity post thumbnail

Cyberbullying: Neither an Epidemic nor a Rarity

If you pay attention to the news reports of cyberbullying incidents (like we do), you would probably think that these inappropriate online behaviors are happening at epidemic levels. When we first started studying cyberbullying over a decade ago, Sameer and I would literally print out any news article we saw that talked about a cyberbullying […]

Catfishing as a Form of Cyberbullying post thumbnail

Catfishing as a Form of Cyberbullying

“Catfishing,” at least in the online world, refers to the practice of setting up a fictitious online profile, most often for the purpose of luring another into a fraudulent romantic relationship.  The Urban Dictionary defines a “catfish” as: “someone who pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false […]

Should Cities Have a Cyberbullying Ordinance? post thumbnail

Should Cities Have a Cyberbullying Ordinance?

I have received quite a few inquiries in the last several months from local elected officials who are interested in proposing a city or county ordinance to address cyberbullying. An ordinance is basically a law or legal decree passed by local municipalities (usually a city, township, or county) that has the authority of law within […]

A Positive School Climate Makes Everything Possible post thumbnail

A Positive School Climate Makes Everything Possible

We have a lot of really great anecdotes and ideas from educators included in our latest book School Climate 2.0:Preventing Cyberbullying and Sexting One Classroom at a Time.  Below is one example from our friend Steve Bollar, who is a principal in New Jersey.  He is an “in-the-trenches” expert when it comes to developing and […]

Education Week Teacher Book Club post thumbnail

Education Week Teacher Book Club

One of the first things we learned in our earliest cyberbullying studies was that targets were not telling adults about their experiences. Even today, very few students who are cyberbullied talk with adults about what is going on. The concern we have heard from adolescents time and time again is that they are afraid to […]

Pause Before You Post post thumbnail

Pause Before You Post

Technology is great and we know from our research that the vast majority of teens are using it safely and responsibly. But a few are creating problems for themselves or others by what they post online. That’s why we’ve partnered with Jostens to produce a number of useful resources for you to educate yourself or […]

Bring Your Own Device To School post thumbnail

Bring Your Own Device To School

Many educators have struggled to confront the challenges associated with high-tech devices in the classrooms (especially cell phones).  Cyberbullying.  Cheating.  Distractions.  Inappropriate digital material. There is no shortage of possible issues. The seemingly easy way to respond to these concerns has been to ban all personal electronic devices from the classroom (or the entire school).  […]

Jostens Renaissance 2011: You Make it Matter post thumbnail

Jostens Renaissance 2011: You Make it Matter

As regular readers of this blog will know, Sameer and I have had a long partnership with Jostens. When I was in high school in the mid-1990s, our class rings and yearbooks came from Jostens, so I knew of the brand. About four years ago, Charley Nelson, who is the director of educator services for […]

How young is too young for Facebook? post thumbnail

How young is too young for Facebook?

This is a common question I receive from many parents: “At what age should I give my child a cell phone or allow them to be on Facebook?” Of course this is not an easy question to answer since every child is different and parents themselves are probably in the best position to determine the […]

A Potential Response to Cyberbullying: Talking to the Parents of the Bully post thumbnail

A Potential Response to Cyberbullying: Talking to the Parents of the Bully

I received an email from an educator who attended a recent presentation.  She asked if it is advisable for the parents of cyberbullying victims to contact the parents of the cyberbullies to try to resolve the situation.  This can be a very tricky proposition.  In theory, this seems like a very good approach and for […]