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i guess I've gotten a little more interested in the whole topic of cyber-bullying in the last few weeks, since a couple of my colleagues had MySpace accounts opened in their names -- one rather funny, one pornographic, and one accusing a respected educator of pedophilia. The sites have all been wiped out, but it got me to thinking in a new way about how my students can be bullied on-line.

It is therefore somewhat fortuitous that this evening I was asked to take a look at material on cyber-bullying from the Kamaron Institute. I had not realized how widespread the problem really is -- 18-49% of students in grades 4-12 may have been the victims of online contact designed to deliberately and repeatedly hurt, taunt, ridicule, threaten or intimidate them.

The Kamaron Institute has created a webpage designed to help parents, educators, and others deal with cyber-bullying. In it, there are links to all sorts of good resources, including lesson plans for teachers like me. There is also a glossary of terms related to cyber-bullying, so that responsible adults have the vocabulary to begin talking about the problem.

And in what I consider to be the most important feature, and one that I wish they played-up a little bit more, they also offer ways of tracing the cyber-bullying to its source, which will greatly enable victims and their families to put a stop to the victimization of the innocent.

Overall, I'm pleased by what I see -- I just wish there was more of it, given the problem that bullying of all sorts creates for young people.

Posted by: Greg at 01:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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