Cyberbullying

Welcome - Bully-Proofing Youth. Internet Safety For Parents. See what NOT to pin on Pinterest! bNet S@vvy 10 Pins to avoid on Pinterestwww.neahin.orgPinterest is all the rage in the world of social media. Not so sure what Pinterest is? My ISP Finder has come up with noteworthy “Pins to Avoid.” See what guidelines they suggest when using Pinterest. Thursday, Apr 12 2012. NetSmartz.org. Silencing Cyberbullies. By Cindy Long Ryan Halligan was bullied so relentlessly at school, he finally learned kickboxing to defend himself from the physical assaults.

But when the attacks moved online, he had no way to fight back, and no refuge. Day and night, he received e-mails and instant messages from classmates ridiculing him and calling him a loser. When a pretty girl at school pretended to like him online but later revealed she was only joking, the taunting e-mails and instant messages increased, only with even more venom. A few weeks later, in October 2003, Ryan hanged himself in his family's bathroom. Now, Ryan's father travels to schools around the country to share the events that led up to his son's suicide and to warn educators and students about the dangers of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the use of electronic technology to deliberately harass or intimidate.

But what can educators do? To get kids talking about cyberbullying, Smith meets her students where they live: online. Beyond Emily: Post-ing Etiquette. Educators offer guidelines for promoting good online behavior.

Some educators are leading the way to school-based netiquette education with guidelines advising students on what to do, and what to avoid, in online communication. We've put together excerpts from some sample guidelines. Florida Virtual School This public virtual school for secondary school students includes netiquette in its online orientation for new students. Sections on posting to the school's discussion board and on emailing address key dos and don'ts. Using the Discussion Board Do. Behaveyourself.com: Online Manners Matter. Netiquette becomes a key part of education.

Credit: Wesley Bedrosian From email to social networking to classroom blogs, today's students are online, both in and out of school -- a lot. But there's no one out in cyberspace to make sure they wash behind their digital ears and refuse cookies from online strangers. Given this potentially dangerous void, schools will increasingly extend their supervisory reach, giving lessons at every grade level on netiquette -- call it Online Manners and Ethics 101. Behaveyourself.com: Online Manners Matter. Netiquette becomes a key part of education.

Credit: Wesley Bedrosian From email to social networking to classroom blogs, today's students are online, both in and out of school -- a lot. "She Used to Be Pretty": Schoolyard Harassment Goes Online. The wounds cyberbullies cause can run deep.

Credit: Indigo Flores She was a little big for her age, her face still chubby and prepubescent. She pulled me aside after the cyberbullying workshop I'd just given to a room full of twenty middle school girls. She looked as though she were hiding something. "Would you help me get my MySpace page shut down? " We pulled it up. An ex-friend had stolen her password and hijacked her MySpace page, posting all kinds of malicious lies about her sexuality. As someone who has worked with hundreds of middle school girls over the years, I am no longer surprised by the brutal cruelty and malicious creativity kids can display when they possess sophisticated tech skills -- and zero empathy. Most of us know empathy is the ability to identify with and understand another person's feelings or difficulties, yet it is not a concept kids often hear about in middle school.