How, as a teacher, will you address issues of cyberbullying in your school?

I was surprised and a bit shocked at the amount of information there is on cyberbullying, but on the flip side there is a definite awareness of the issue and positive steps are being made to raise awareness and try to eradicate the problem. Education is the beginning and it doesn't need to only involve the students as this is a topic that could effect whole families and communities so I think a good avenue would be to invite parents to the school one night to discuss issues associated with cyberbullying and what they can be doing at home to help support the schools effort managing the problem. Role play situations are powerful teaching aids when trying to get students to see multiple perspectives of an issues. I came across a great site that has lesson plans for dealing with this issue called CyberSmart, http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans. This is just one of many I came across. I also came across another interesting site called cyberbulling.ca which offers courses to educators on how to deal with this latest epidemic sweeping the internet world. On this website they made an interesting point about the lack of such a unit in educational studies. I have to say I had not given the topic a lot of thought up until now but it made me wonder also why we are not offered some form of education when it comes to dealing with this issue as it appears to be one that is growing all the time, sad as that thought is. It is important to establish a classroom environment that is non-judgemental, safe and secure of all students and students must be made responsible for their actions and any possible consequences that may follow as a result of inappropriate behaviour.

1. What rules/policies might a school need to put in place to provide guidance on the use of e-mail? Refer to the NSW DET policy on Internet and email services: Acceptable usage for schools.

Having the internet and email available to students provides them with great opportunities and exposure to enormous amounts of information. It gives them the opportunity for authentic learning experiences but can also expose them to a lot of inappropriate information. Schools need to have in place clear and defined guidelines for students to follow and they should be explained to students before they are given access to these services. A thorough lesson educating students on safe internet usage would help to eliminate any confusion or uncertainty students may have concerning what is appropriate. The schools should also have in place appropriate filters on programs where students are using the internet to reduce the risk of inappropriate information being accessed. When using the internet and email, activities should be related to classroom lessons and 'free-play' should be minimised, the teacher should always be aware of what students are doing when engaged in computer work to avoid students wondering off and explore areas that may not be applicable or appropriate. Students should be advised to report to the teacher immediately if they receive any communication that is inappropriate, this could be from a number of sources ranging from their peers to people not associated with the school or community in any way. Students should also be advised not to participate in the spreading of chain-letters and made aware of the danger of sending on attachments contained in emails from unknown sources as these could potentially contain virus. Issues surrounding privacy and confidentiality should be discussed and students must know not to put personal information about themselves, class members, staff members or family members on any websites or in any email communication and to report any requests for such information immediately to their teacher. Copyright issues need to be addressed and students should be aware of how to use information correctly and to acknowledge the source of the information. There should be clear disciplinary actions in place that are enforced if students fail to follow the guidelines set out by the school such as usage suspended and parents notified of behaviour for first offences to possible loss of privileges permanently for repeat offenders. Students and their parents should sign an agreement at the beginning of each year which clearly sets out the guidelines and consequences to help reinforce what is acceptable behaviour. It is important too that teachers themselves follow the guidelines and make sure that they are only using the internet and email for genuine curriculum and educational activities.

I am currently a Uni student studying primary school education in Australia. The intention of this blog (aside from being part of a Uni assignment!) is to hopefully set up a place where people can share their ideas, useful education websites they have unearthed and discuss successful/unsuccessful lessons they have taught. I am aware of the enormous content that already exists on the web. Perhaps this blog could become a way for everyone to save some time and energy and concentrate on what really matters - the education the students receive, after all there is no point trying to reinvent the wheel.
Having said that I am very new to all of this so all advice and tips will be greatly received especially concerning integrating ICT into the classroom.