As students are online more and more often, is becoming increasingly important to educate them in the importance of netiquette. Children do not always have someone watching over their shoulder while they are online, and being online makes them vulnerable to millions of different strangers. Children are often taught not to talk to strangers, but when they are online, it may seem harmless to them. People are not often aware of the risks they take by talking to and giving information to those they “meet” online. The growing amount of time children spend on the Internet calls for a growth in the amount of time spent teaching them how to deal with different instances online as well. Current efforts we can see today are mostly based on safety. A few states have begun the process of integrating technology safety classes into their curriculum. Virginia has passed a law that requires Internet safety classes in all public schools, and Texas and Illinois have both passed laws which encourage Internet safety classes (Behaveyourself.com: Online Manners Matter).
Teachers have been trying to fight cyber-bullying in recent years, yet there has not been much progress truly made. Agencies such as The National Crime Prevention Association try to fight cyber-bullying and are largely funded by individuals who want to join in the efforts to put cyber-bullying to an end. These agencies raise awareness about cyber-bullying because it is a problem that is still not very widely known about. Children are always going to do what they want to do while they are alone and unsupervised, so teaching children netiquette is our best hope at ending cyber-bullying. The article, How Should Schools Handle Cyber-Bullying? talks about Benjamin Franklin Middle School which dealt with cyber-bullying and social network related problems. The principal wrote that, “There is NO reason for middle school aged children to be a part of social networking sites.” In this letter he also informed parents that when problems on the Internet arise, the police need to be notified immediately. Children can be much more hurtful on the Internet because the lack of face-to-face contact gives them the confidence that they have more power over their victim.
Some schools have taken efforts to ban all electronic devices that can be connected to the Internet. They simply ban cell phones, iPads, iPods, handheld gaming systems, etc. (Cyber-bullying Research Center). These school rules are aimed to cut down on the amount of cyber-bullying that is seen in schools, but many parents have criticized the schools for the fact that their students “need” these electronic devices so that they can keep in touch with their parents. My argument to this statement would be that it is not that difficult to tell your child where to meet you after school to be picked up. Parents should simply be able to tell their child where to be at what time and have them be there. This is what my parents did all throughout my elementary and middle schooling for me and it worked just fine. Parents are also able to call the school and send their child a note, so cell phones are realistically not needed. Along with this, Arkansas recently passed a law allowing school officials to discipline cyber bullies regardless of where the bullying took place. In 2006, Idaho passed a law that allowed school officials to suspend students for cyber-bullying, and locally, Oregon has recently passed laws that expand on the definition of cyber-bullying. In Oregon, students whose actions even “substantially interfere” with another student’s education are said to be cyber-bullies. Click on this link to see laws set in place by many other states: Cyber-Bullying State Laws and Policies.
These links below will take you to the other pages on my blog. These pages each discuss a certain aspect of E-Sponsibility. I hope you find this information useful!
