Be Kind Online

I have mentioned previously on the blog that I host an Elevate K-12 classroom. One of the classes that Elevate facilitates is Cybersecurity. It is a semester long high school credit class that we offer to our eighth graders. A lot of what they discuss falls in line with digital citizenship, cyberbullying, and keeping yourself safe online. The teacher has asked the class what a hacker looks like before and the image below perfectly illustrates what the students envisioned. The lesson seeks to teach the students that a hacker could look like anyone you know or see on the street. The same can be said for a cyberbully. The bully can be someone you know or someone you don't. The mask in this image also could be representative of how individuals often hide behind a screen and it emboldens them to say things they would never say in person.

Some ways that I would address this with my students would begin by teaching them to be courteous online just as they would in person. I would use the toothpaste illustration that is often used in digital citizenship lessons which teaches that once you post something you can't take it back. It is permanent. People can screenshot things and share them with people you never intended to see it. I would also teach them what to do if they are someone they know is begin bullied online. There are a lot of good lessons on Common Sense Media's website dealing with this topic that could be used to supplement, as well.

While we hear stories all the time of students being bullied online and we see first hand on all social media fronts how people lose all decency at times when they are not face-to-face, it's easy to think that is a teenage thing. Obviously it goes beyond that, though. One thing that I find rather disturbing is the number of school librarians that responded that they had been bullied in the past. With 30% of high school librarians stating that they had been bullied (Ishizuka, 2023). Considering this, I would rather be proactive and know how to deal with these types of situations before they happen, I think the tips on how to respond to these types of emails will be useful in the future if this is a continuing trend in the digital age, especially.

References:

Ishizuka, Kathy. (2023, September). Nearly a quarter of school librarians have experienced harassment over books/SLJ censorship survey. School Library Journal. Nearly a Quarter of School Librarians HaveExperienced Harassment Over Books | SLJCensorship Survey