CyberSafety: Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is the use of technology for social cruelty, which can include harassment, impersonation, denigration, trickery, exclusion and stalking.

Cyberbullies may use email, chat rooms, discussion forums, instant messaging, cell phone text messaging or popular teen web sites such as MySpace.com.

Educators

Educators' Guide to Cyberbullying (.pdf download)
Nancy Willard and The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use offers this comprehensive guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats. Great resource to post on your district site or to review with your district technology committee, school safety committee, classroom teachers and administrators.

Cyberbullying Video Clips
Looking for video clips to show in class? Here is a great list of videos on cyberbullying from the Diigo social bookmarking group on Digital Citizenship.

*NetSmartz Real Life Stories
Short video clips on the effects of cyberbullying with accompanying lesson plans in the form of activity cards for both middle and high school. (grades 7-12)

*Stop Bullying Now
From the US Dept of Health & Human Services. Episode Five deals with cyberbullying and is followed by an online guided discussion. Additional games, webisodes and characters help students understand the effects of bullying. (grades 4-8)

*Cyberbullying Lesson Plans & Student Activity Sheets
An integrated K-12 approach for addressing cyberbullying. Content is based on current research findings and using best practices from the fields of cyber security, school violence prevention, and character education to impact behavioral change. (Grades 2-12)

*Cyber Bullying Project [Video]
This video was made by a student for his teacher-mom and would be good to show middle or high school students to launch a discussion. The original site was created by an educator and has additional teaching materials related to CyberSafety, including 10 Steps To Prevent Cyberbullying.

Parents

Blogs, Bulletin Boards and Bullying
Watch this video to learn how to talk to your children about the dangers of posting personal information online and the effect of cyberbullying on others.

House Pledges
Use these Internet Safety Pledges from Netsmartz to promote safety discussions and create safer boundaries for computer use at home.

StopCyberbullying.org
It's well worth watching the lengthy introduction to view the great examples of cyberbullying that kids experience.

Students

*Real Life Stories
Short video clips from NetSmartz on the effects of cyberbullying. (grades 7-12)

Kidscape Advice for Kids on Cyberbullying
Kidscape covers text messaging, chatrooms, instant messaging, email and web forms of cyberbullying and offers advice for kids on handling abuse in the specific environments. (grades 7-12)

*Stop Bullying Now
From the US Dept of Health & Human Services. Games, Webisodes and Characters that help students understand the effects of bullying. (grades 5-8)

*Delete Cyberbullying Media Awareness Campaign - 30-second and 45-second Public Service Announcements targeting teens to help them understand the important role they play in stopping cyberbullying. (grades 5-10)

* Indicates this resource was shown in CTAP IV Cybersafety PowerPoint