Group items tagged

As tales of online cruelty mount, districts are trying a mix of prevention and punishment, incorporating internet safety into curriculum and tightening student conduct codes.Whether a pattern or merely an unfortunate streak, what's not disputed is the direction of the general drift in cyberbullying cases: upward. Once relegated to the playgrounds and back lots, the schoolyard bully now finds prey online. While the states are responding to cyberbullying by adopting legislation that mixes prevention with punishment, for school districts the issue quickly turns from educating the community about the threat of cyberbullying to crafting a response when an incident actually occurs. Districts are realizing that integrating internet safety education into curriculum isn't enough. They must also address cyberbullying in their conduct and discipline codes.

From the Technology Information Center for Administrator Leadership /Radio TICAL audiocast: First they showed up in every driver's hand. Now, your second graders are bringing them to school. Yep, cell phones have become as ubiquitous on campus as they are on the roads, and they force us to consider new rules and policies in each context. In this episode, TICAL cadre members Bob Blackney and Kelly Calhoun share their perspectives on the kinds of things we need to consider in crafting campus cell phone policies.

The crackdown on schoolyard bullying in recent years has increased awareness of problems at our public schools involving degrading comments, intimidation and violence. But the problem is still out there and, thanks to the Internet and cell phones, has taken on a whole new dimension. Some of our children are now taunted and harassed not just at school, but electronically with inappropriate text messages, e-mails and Web site postings.

Kids can be mean.\n\nIt's a fact of life we've all experienced. Gone are the days, however, when avoiding a bully meant ducking out of the back door at school. Thanks to personal computers, cellphones and instant messaging, it's now easier than ever for children to attack each other, often anonymously.

A teen posing as a girl on Facebook convinced 30 male classmates to send him nude photos of themselves and then blackmailed them. The student is being held on a $25,000 bond and is now facing a 300 year prison sentence.

Written by attorney/educator, Nancy Willard and tailored for parents.Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens is primarily a parenting book - parenting for the Information Age. Generally, parents do a good job of raising their children to make safe and responsible choices in the Real World. But now, children and teens have the ability to interact with people from throughout the world and to access a wide range of material that may or may not be appropriate for them. So what is a caring parent to do?

The efforts are few and far between right now, but as the world of blogs, wikis and podcasts grows, an increasing number of Canadian educators are finding new ways to enrich the learning experience for their students.

The primary goal of the Digital Youth Network Program is to develop a model program that enables urban youth to become discerning new media consumers and fluent media producers.To be full citizens today, youth must be engaged, articulate, critical and collaborative. Youth must become creators - designers, builders & innovators - who can envision new possibilities. Youth must also be able to organize, navigate and judge the large amounts of information and media to which they now have access. Full citizens today must be reflective thinkers who are committed to personal and community improvement.

CommonCraft now has their entire collection of "Explanations in Plain English" videos posted to their own YouTube Channel. See: social networking, twitter, blogs, wikis etc.

Steve Hargadon writes: 'We've spent the last ten years teaching students how to protect themselves from inappropriate content - now we have to teach them to create appropriate content.'

Like many states, Texas now has state legislation driving cybersafety education in schools. In accordance with HB 3171, Section 38.023, the Texas Education Agency has developed and made available to school districts a list of resources concerning Internet Safety. In the navigation bar are links to 3 types of pages which are for students, educators and parents. Within each of the pages are links that categorize different aspects of Internet safety and digital citizenship to educate and inform.

The average young American now spends practically every waking minute - except for the time in school - using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

"Kids who get bullied and snubbed by peers may be more likely to have problems in other parts of their lives, past studies have shown. And now researchers have found at least three factors in a child's behavior that can lead to social rejection. "

Digital technology has had a tremendous impact on our lives. Although the Internet and cell phones have been in wide use for only a couple of decades, most of us can hardly remember a time before they existed or imagine how we would function without them. How have the accessibility of these technologies, and the ease with which we are now able to share information, changed the way we communicate? And how can young people in particular better deal with the issues that might arise from being able to communicate so quickly and easily with so many people? This activity will help students recognize and address these issues. Note: Registration for this site may be required, but it's simple and easy.

It's no secret that we live in a world of moral panics -- where new technologies are feared by those who don't understand them, often leading to regulations that block their potential. For years now, a number of politicians have sought laws to ban social networks in schools, assuming that they are either bad or simply inappropriate for schools.

An anonymous Facebook page filled with negative comments about Evanston (Ill.) Township High School students became part of a police investigation into cyberbulling earlier this month. But now students at the same school are drawing attention for posting and sharing the nicest comments imaginable about each other.

The next time you apply for a job, don't be surprised if you have to agree to a social-media background check. Many U.S. companies and recruiters are now looking at your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other accounts and blogs - even YouTube - to paint a clearer picture of who you are.

Lessons have been developed to be consistent with national student learning standards, including the ISTE Standards and the National Council of Teachers of English. Right now, lesson plans are only available for high school students but elementary and middle school curriculum is coming soon.

In summer 2007, a music professor at BU was shocked to learn that he had a Facebook page - in his name, with a recent photo and a spot-on bio. But, the professor recalls, "embedded in the document were really scurrilous things that were reputed to have been said by me, and they were quite unpleasant and ugly and immature."

On April 22, the Stop Bullying Now! Campaign will host a webcast on cyberbullying. The webcast will help participants learn about best practices in cyberbullying prevention and intervention and how to lend support when bullying occurs. The webcast, held from 3:00 to 4:30 pm EST, will feature experts such as Susan Limber, PhD, MLS, from Clemson University, who will provide current information on the use of cyber technologies and the emerging phenomenon of cyberbuylling among youth.