SOCIAL MEDIA BULLYING

1.0 INTRODUCTION

What is bullying?
Bullying is a special form of aggressive behavior. Bullying according to Olweus (1993) who
designed the Norwegian intervention program define it as "A person is being bullied when he
or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other
persons". What differentiates bullying from other aggressive acts is that the student who bullies
intends to harm, there is more than one incident, and an imbalance of power makes it hard for
the child who's being bullied to defend oneself. This difference in power can be physical. The
child who bullies can be older, bigger, stronger or several children can gang up on a single
child. It can also be psychological, which is harder to see but just as potent. The student who
bullies can have more social status or a sharper tongue, for instance. And for the child who is
victimized, oppression is always the result.

What is social media bullying?

Bullying is not something new, but it has certainly changed over the years. One of the reasons
you hear about it so much today is because it is happening in more places than ever before. In
the past, children were often bullied at school or in their neighbourhood. Today, with the
increased use of the Internet, children are now being bullied in all locations and at all times.
This has created an epidemic that must be stopped.

Thesis statement
Social media bullying can be stop by schools roles in preventing social media bullying,
keeping the lines of communication open, monitoring the childrens internet usage,

2.0 MAIN IDEA 1
Schools roles in preventing social media bullying

2.1 SUPPORTING DETAILS

When schools try and get involved by disciplining the student for social media bullying
actions that took place off-campus and outside of school hours, they are often sued for
exceeding their authority and violating the student's free speech right. They also, often lose.
Schools can be very effective brokers in working with the parents to stop and remedy social
media bullying situations. They can also educate the students on cyber ethics and the law.
If schools are creative, they can sometimes avoid the claim that their actions exceeded their
legal authority for off-campus social media bullying actions. It is recommended that a
provision is added to the school's acceptable use policy reserving the right to discipline the
student for actions taken off-campus if they are intended to have an effect on a student or
they adversely affect the safety and well-being of student while in school. This makes it a
contractual, not a constitutional issue.

2.2 EXAMPLES OR EVIDENCES

In order for students to attain and retain good health and reach their potential for academic
success, it is imperative that school districts address the issue of bullying at all grade levels
if each student is to adopt a healthy lifestyle in relation to behaviors that contribute to
unintentional injuries, intentional injuries, and social problems. Due to the negative impact
of social media bullying on students, schools must take action to reduce incidents both
inside and outside of school. What happens at home on computers and cell phones cannot
be helped at school. However, preventative measures should be put in place to illustrate to
children that bullying is bad and can cause long term harm to their peers. Implications and
guidelines are provided for school personnel to address this problem and develop
prevention strategies.
3.0 MAIN IDEA 2
Keep the lines of communication open

3.1 SUPPORTING DETAILS

Children usually look to parents or caregivers for advice and help on tough decisions.
Children wants to talk about their problem and sometimes spending fifteen minutes a day
talking can reassure the kids that they can talk to their parents if they have a problem.
Talking about bullying directly is an important step in understanding how the problem
might be affecting the children. Encourage the children to answer honestly so that the
parents can take action. Assure the children that they are not alone in addressing any
problems that arise.

3.2 EXAMPLES OR EVIDENCES

Adults generally encourage student victims to tell a teacher or parent if they are being
bullied. A research by Cassidy, Jackson, and Brown (2009) asked Canadian students who
they would tell if they were subject to social media bullying; 74% said they would tell a
friend, 57% would tell a parent/guardian and 47% would tell school staff. Within the
sample, the willingness to tell either school staff or a parent decreased with age. Although
these percentages look fairly encouraging, they fall dramatically when victims are asked
what they actually did.

4.0 MAIN IDEA 3

Monitoring the childrens internet usage

4.1 SUPPORTING DETAILS

Protecting the children from social media bullying is critical at early stage. The best means
for this is monitoring the childs electronic communications with each other and the adults
in their lives. Despite concerns about invasion of childrens privacy, the benefits of
monitoring electronic communications at home and school far outweigh potential risks.
 By adopting such policies, parents and school administrators gain the ability to uncover
and rein in rumor-mongering, threats and harassment.

4.2 EXAMPLES OR EVIDENCES

Monitoring the internet usage of the teenage children is a strategy that is often suggested
for parents, and the literature indicates that the majority of parents do engage in
monitoring behaviours at least some of the time. Monitoring behaviours include checking
the sites that are appropriate for the childs use. In one study, most children and
adolescents agreed that the amount of parental interest in their online activities is
appropriate and should remain the same (71%). Interestingly, 910 year olds were more
likely to express a desire for parents to show more interest in their internet use than older
children (Green et al., 2011), possibly indicating that parents should become involved in
monitoring behaviours at an age younger than they expect. In this respect, it seems
important to note that if parents are willing to provide access to mobile phones and
computers for their children, with this access comes a responsibility to understand, role
model and communicate the fundamentals of good digital citizenship.