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Schoolyard bullies are a long-standing problem but now, in the age of the Internet, they are increasingly using electronic devices to torment their victims. Because cyberbullying has become so prevalent, several states, including New York, have proposed legislation to control cyberbullying.

Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, states that the intent of the Legislature in enacting its provisions is to encourage school districts, county offices of education, law enforcement agencies, and agencies serving youth to develop and implement interagency strategies, in-service training programs, and activities that will, among other things, reduce school crime and violence, including bullying. Existing law establishes the School/Law Enforcement Partnership and charges it with undertaking several efforts intended to reduce school crime, as specified,including bullying.

This bill would specify that bullying, as used in these provisions,means one or more acts by a pupil or a group of pupils directed against another pupil that constitutes sexual harassment, hate violence, or severe or pervasive intentional harassment, threats, or intimidation that is disruptive, causes disorder, and invades the rights of others by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, and includes\nacts that are committed personally or by means of an electronic act, as defined.

Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the principal determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited to, hazing, as defined. This bill, in addition, would give school officials grounds to suspend a pupil or recommend a pupil for expulsion for bullying, including, but not limited to, bullying by electronic act.

HB 669 prohibits the bullying or harassment, including cyber bullying, of any public K-12 student or employee. It requires the Department of Education to adopt a model policy to prohibit bullying and harassment and directs all school districts to adopt a similar policy. School districts are directed to work with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and local law enforcement on developing this policy. School districts will be required to report all instances of bullying or harassment and to notify the parents of the bully and the parents of the victim.

Ty Nordic understands the need to inform kids about the dangers of sexual predators on the Internet. But when his 16-year-old daughter was targeted during an assembly at Windsor High School on the first day of school Tuesday afternoon, Nordic was left with plenty of unanswered questions for the presenter whom he said used inappropriate language during the assembly and singled out specific students.

One afternoon in the spring of 2006, for reasons unknown to those who knew him, Mitchell Henderson, a seventh grader from Rochester, Minnesota, took a .22-caliber rifle down from a shelf in his parents' bedroom closet and shot himself in the head. The next morning, Mitchell's school assembled in the gym to begin mourning. His classmates created a virtual memorial on MySpace and garlanded it with remembrances. One wrote that Mitchell was a "hero to take that shot, to leave us all behind. God do we wish we could take it back." Someone e-mailed a clipping of Mitchell's newspaper obituary to MyDeathSpace.com, a Web site that links to the MySpace pages of the dead.

Federal and local authorities arrested seven men for possession of child pornography today as part of an ongoing multi-agency investigation spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the FBI that has resulted so far in the filing of charges against 55 defendants who allegedly used peer-to-peer networks to exchange sexually graphic images of children.

Sony Creative Software Contest- Winner, School Video Category [Cyberbullyiing Public Service Announcement ]

Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary. Background info from Marvin Jiminez, Director. I decided to enter the contest for two reasons. First, being one of the poorest school districts in the city, I felt our students would greatly appreciate the software prizes to use in sharing their stories in a visual manner. Second, this project would be my directorial debut. I really enjoyed directing this project and seeing it come to life from an idea to film. The students who volunteered as talent really did an exceptional job and were very fun to direct. The project itself took approx. 20 pre-production hours, 6 production hours, and 8 post-production hours. The title I decided to use is "Words Sometimes Really Do Hurt".

A Look At The Cyberbully. This study confirms other studies (Opinion Research, (2006) on the prevalence of cyberbullying in that about a third (29%) admitted to being bullied with half of them reporting that additional bullying accompanied the initial cyberbullying. Research finds a connection between bullies, cyberbullies and their victims. Bullies, compared to non-bullies, were more likely to be cyberbullies; while victims of physical bullying were more likely to be victims of cyberbullying

This research is being carried out for The National Youth Agency who offer a range of opportunities for young people to influence policy and practice. How does youth work best support young people to manage the risks and make the most of the opportunities presented by social networking technology? Running from December 2007 till mid-January 2008 this UK-based survey seeks to identify youth workers current use of social networking technologies; their current role support young people to safely and effective use social networking technologies; their understanding of the benefits and risks of social networking technologies; their interests in developing their use of social networking technologies; and potential barriers to youth workers using, and supporting young people to use, social networking technologies.

It only takes a minute to change your life. In this collaboration with the Kaiser Family Foundation, the PAUSE campaign recognizes that in a minute, everything can change. Impulsive behaviors are part of being young. Through the campaign, Fox Networks Group and Kaiser hope to encourage young people to "pause" - even if just for sixty seconds -- when confronted with a difficult or risky decision, consider the best option, and reach out to get more information and help if they need it. In that minute, they have the choice to make a good or bad call. As PAUSE indicates, "it only takes a minute to change your life." For a young person, that kind of power can be intimidating, yet also very empowering. Site includes PSA's targeting youth and informational resources.

Slick video made by the Pearson Foundation for COSN that explains the shifts that need to happen if we are going to enable students to become fully digital literate.
\nThe Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) provides a voice for K-12 education leaders who use technology strategically to improve teaching and learning. CoSN provides products and services to support leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies.

This 10th grade student has written an exceptional post-project reflection. I hope you'll take time to read it. Here is an excerpt:\n\n"There is no doubt that this technology is dangerous. It is apparent that few people, not adults, not teenagers, truly understand how collaboration, conduct, and manners affect the internet. This project has to teach others that as well. It is necessary to know how to handle yourself on the internet. That's why Horizon Project is so important. We have to educate tomorrow's leaders how to use new technology without abusing it. The highlight of this project is the education we are giving every single person who has been a part of the Horizon Project."

An excellent post about how doing global collaborative projects can educate students on the safety they need. This is from a 10th grader.

Copyright law protects musical and spoken compositions, or "works"; the performance of a work preserved in a sound recording; and the sound recording itself. Podcasting implicates these in three ways: the performance of a work; the playing of a sound recording of a performance; and the reproduction of a sound recording by incorporating it into a podcast. The law is well-settled only as to the first of these.

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.

Media literacy is the process of accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating messages in a wide variety of forms. It uses an inquiry-based instructional model that encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see and read. Media literacy aims to enable people to be skillful creators and producers of media messages, both to facilitate an understanding as to the strengths and limitations of each medium, as well as to create independent media.

Tutorial helps students in Grades 4 to 8 develop the critical thinking skills they need to apply to their online experiences by enabling them to use popular online tools and Web sites in a secure and ethical manner, and to their full potential.There are licensing requirements for using this material but the fee is nominal.

In the United States, there's no federal law against cyber bullying -- yet. A bill introduced to the House of Representatives last year would make it against the law to "transmit in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior." Anyone found guilty of this crime could face a fine or a prison term of up to two years.

A spat on Facebook over a recent killing might have led to a fight at Knightdale High School last week. Dominique Royster's Facebook page erupted into expletives and insults after Royster called for the release of Mariah Wisdom from jail. After her Facebook posting and the angry response, Royster received death threats on her cell phone. She was kept out of school for several days until emotions cooled, and her parents had a chance to talk to school administrators about the situation. A member of the school staff who deals with disciplinary problems was assigned to shadow her as she went through the day March 26, her first day back at school after the killing. Four students were cited with misdemeanor assault and released to their parents in connection with the attack.

Formspring.me, has the potential to be more dangerous to students than most other websites I've heard of. Just to give you an idea of it's prevalence, I took a quick poll of my 8th graders. About 1/3 have a Formspring page. About 3/4 know about Formspring.me.

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Twitter, the microblogging service has been the tech darling of late - racking up new users at a dizzying pace. But there simply aren't enough new users to make up for defecting ones claims one blogger. FaceBook and MySpace, the two social networking giants had double the retention rates Twitter has now. And, as fans are quick to point out in fields of comments around the Web, Facebook offers so many more ways to interact than Twitter.