The National Crime Prevention Council offers a plethora of activities and lesson plans for teachers with the goal to increase awareness about bullying. These value-added resources are a great first step in the prevention of cyberbullying. While I think it is necessary for teachers to educate students on this topic at the school setting, I think it is just as important for this topic to be addressed by parents.
As I conduct research about cyberbullying, I am overcome with disappointment that this topic is even an issue. Yes, I know that back in the 50s, 60s, etc., bullying occurred (poor Marty McFly in Back to the Future), but it seems more prevalent than ever. In fact, it's not just cyberbullying that concerns me, but the fact that good manners, kindness, compassion, respect of elders, and old-fashioned neighborly love have fallen by the wayside. I think there are many culprits to blame, including the invention of the Internet (which as Nancy stated, creates anonymity and allows for less face-to-face communication), but also parenting. From what I see, I no longer hear kids refer to adults as "Mr" or "Mrs", and receiving a simple "thank you" is being heard less and less. Some parents seem afraid to discipline their kids and let them get away with whatever they want. Or maybe they are too tired to instill in their children proper behavior and good values because both parents work countless hours. All I know is that children seem to be less respectful than kids I knew when I was growing up (and my parents agree, too).
Of course, I know tons of parents who make parenting their first priority and work hard to raise respectful children. I also know countless children who are genuinely good kids, and my teacher-husband reassures me that the future is going to be filled with good people, as he says only the bad kids stand out most. Either way, parents are the biggest influences in children's lives, so they need to lead by example, interact with their children, and offer guidance. Parents shouldn't rely solely on teachers to do the work and place blame on teachers for their child's poor behavior. Rather, parents and teachers together should collaborate together to ensure the future is going to be bright for everyone.
I am not a parent, so what do I know? These are just my viewpoints. I'd love to hear from actual parents on what they think the future holds.
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5 comments:
Working in higher education I work with the end product, if you will, of K-12 education and the sociocultural milieu that students come through. I do think there is something rather amiss in our larger society that feeds some of the underlying attitudes that fuel cyberbullying. We seem to have lost our ability to have a sense of community - that we are interdependent on each other. In my younger days, I used to think that if people have too much money then they start to depend on and care less for others, focusing more on their individual wants and needs. I still think this is true. But I also feel that somehow the message is firmly embedded in the larger society, through media, entertainment, marketing, that being rude, inconsiderate, tought, mean is somehow OK.
I think families and parents are where the buck begins and ends on this attitude and behavior. Abandonment of parental responsibility in establishing and reinforcing acceptable, ethical attitudes, values, and behavior is endemic. Schools inherit students with these deficiencies and are expected to serve that need as well! Technology accelerates opportunities for these behaviors to go on often unchecked, even under the parental radar, should there be any in place. Sad to have to learn about the prevalence of such mean-spirited and socially destructive behavior.
Being the mother of a three-year-old boy in Brooklyn, NY I see every manner of children interacting in equal parts vile, and in my eyes, unacceptable behaviors and good, respectable behaviors. I cannot say that I think technology, internet, or media alone have brought on more rude, bullying behavior than there used to be.
However, I also was a teenager in the internet age of the 90's, so I have little recollection of what was before. I think too often we tend to see the past with rose-colored glasses.
I do think that internet and cell phone use has brought the private sector to the public sector.
How many quite personal conversations do you hear walking down the street? Some of that private sector is quite vile and rude.
But, humans are highly adaptable creatures right?
We build technology to serve us. So, I don't think
rude behaviors can be "blamed" on internet usage or content, so much as the mis-use and mis-management of it. Again, back to Marcy's comment that the buck begins and ends with the framing families set for the media and it's importance and role in the children's lives.
Good points about looking at the past with rose-colored glasses. I don't mean to imply that technology is to blame for the rudeness - it just simpyl serves as a very effective bullhorn for the good and the bad in a way that certainly was not present before the last decade. I think the explosion of user generated content is especially exciting and very creative. When technology can help us find our creative voice then I think that is terrific.
Marcy,
I agree with your comments about lsoing that sense of community. I spent the earlier part of the week on the campus of UGA, and it amazed me that nearly every young adult was walking around campus with Ipod earphones in their ears. No one was speaking to each other! All the students seemed to be in their own little world, instead of interacting with those they passed. I would not be surprised to hear that some of these students feel isolated, or that they feel no remorse by bullying someone online--they don't seem to be making the personal connections that I was accustomed to when I was in college.
Marcy,
I agree with your comments about lsoing that sense of community. I spent the earlier part of the week on the campus of UGA, and it amazed me that nearly every young adult was walking around campus with Ipod earphones in their ears. No one was speaking to each other! All the students seemed to be in their own little world, instead of interacting with those they passed. I would not be surprised to hear that some of these students feel isolated, or that they feel no remorse by bullying someone online--they don't seem to be making the personal connections that I was accustomed to when I was in college.
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