Tag Archives: bullying
The Teen Sexting Problem and What Schools Can Do about It
In the recent past, the term “sexting” has come into our lexicon. Sexting can be defined as creating, sending and/or receiving sexually explicit images or texts. It has been described as a 21st century variation of you-show-me-yours-I’ll-show-you-mine game. However, with the added factor of 21st century technology, it is a whole new game!
There is a lot of conversation among law enforcement, the legal community, educators, prevention-intervention people, counselors and others as to whether sexting falls into the category of criminal activity as child pornography. There is no single, simple answer. Each situation is different.
Continue reading →
Five Reasons Students Don’t Report Cyberbullying
Chelsie, a vibrant freshman in third period, is no longer vibrant. Most days, she’s not even present. When she does show up to class, she often comes early and alone. Her grades have slipped. She makes up excuses in the computer lab about why she can’t go online or she pleads a stomach ache and heads for the nurse’s office. When she’s in class, Chelsie prefers to work alone and not in groups. If other students ask her to join a group, she snaps at them.
Chelsie’s change in behavior is consistent with that of a cyberbully victim, Hindjua and Patchin wrote in Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying. Continue reading →
Don’t Let Insults Slide
Life in summer English 11 was pretty peaceful until I allowed the class to divide themselves into teams for a review game. My students were completely engaged in the game. They enjoyed any opportunity to compete and began to trash talk. You can imagine how the trash talk escalated from good-natured ribbing to real insults. The original lesson plan had called for a friendly game with vocabulary words and a go-to-the-bathroom-free pass at stake, but it escalated to an event that was about honor, justice, pride, and revenge. They began to shout, stand up, and scatter desks. Continue reading →
Bullying by the Numbers
Teen pop and TV star Demi Lovato has joined the National Center for Bullying Prevention. Lovato, 17, was homeschooled from the age of 12 because of bullying problems. Lovato has a successful TV show for teens and a music career; however, most bullying victims don’t fare as well. Continue reading →
Social Aggression among Girls
Social aggression among girls includes behaviors such as social ostracism, gossip, talking behind backs, verbal attacks, glaring and eye-rolling, and manipulating relationships. Victimization is related to a number of mental health outcomes such as depression, loneliness, and poor self-concept (Crick & Bigbee, 1998; Crick & Gropeter, 1996; Paquette & Underwood, 1999). Teachers are all too familiar with the impact that outcomes such as these can have on students’ school performance and attendance. Continue reading →
Cyberbullying: Seattle Public School’s Online Lessons
Our students are digital natives, a term that means that teens look at the Internet, cell phones, instant messaging, and text messaging as a part of their normal social lives. Adults are digital immigrants who use technology as a tool to supplement our lives. For students, asking them to turn off the communications technology is like asking them to eat steak without a knife and fork. Sure, the kids could eat the steak, but it’s messy and awkward without the right tools. Our students are so used to their digital tools that face-to-face communication and online communication blend seamlessly.
That seamless blend of the live and the virtual makes cyberbullying, bullying that takes place through a digital medium, a more complex problem to solve than just turning off the cell phone or logging off the computer. Thirty percent of our students have experienced cyberbullying, the effects of which extend beyond the online universe and into their offline world – including the classroom. Continue reading →
How Teachers Can Help with Food Allergies
According to a 2007 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 25 students has a food allergy; that’s up 20 percent from one in 30 students in a 1997 study.
Students with food allergies can have reactions to the allergen that range from tingling, itching and hives to anaphylaxis, a serious and rapid reaction that can lead to death. Continue reading →
Bullying Prevention Initiative in Broward County Schools
In an attempt to prevent bullying, Florida’s Broward County Schools have adopted a new district-wide anti-bullying policy that will attempt to protect both student and adult victims.
According to the Broward County Schools Website (www.browardcounty.com), the district was forming the policy before the state legislature voted on the new anti—bullying state law. Broward’s policy takes into account not only the traditional name-calling but also the bullying that occurs outside school walls. Any abusive behavior that affects students or adult employees is subject to the policy. Continue reading →
