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How can we protect cyberbullying in the classroom?

Thanks to the development of new technologies many aspects of our life has been moved to the virtual reality. Nowadays, we can work and learn from home and communicate with friends easily. Although, it creates new opportunities it is also connected with real dangers that both adults and children can be prone to. One of the challenges is the cyberbullying at school.

The scale of it grows continuously and it is hard to be spotted by the teacher sometimes.

It very often spreads by using mobile phone messengers and social media.

According to the NASK research “Teenagers 3.0” around 80% of polish students have witnessed cyberbullying and 50% have been the victims themselves. Additionally, 7 to 11% of children have experienced regular and continuous cyberbullying by their peers.

Then, the question of what can teachers and school actually do to protect their students from the effects of phenomenon arises.

The actions that a teacher can implement in the classroom to prevent cyberbullying are:

  • Creating rules and clearly communicating to the students that there is no condone cyberbullying
  • Talking to your students about the dangers of cyberbullying and teaching them responsible behaviour on social media and privacy rules
  • Trying to create conditions for integration in the classroom and building good relationships among students as well as the sense of belonging and bonding
  • Encouraging your students to respond to cyberbullying. Explain to them what can they do when they witness the violence and that is supporting the victim and getting involved with the perpetrators as well as informing the adults
  • Being aware of the signals that may mean your students are victims of cyberbullying such as: isolation, truancy, exclusion by other students, stomach pains, headaches and mood changes
  • Trying to be cooperative with parents and inform them about school politics regarding cyberbullying, include them in any school actions towards prevention and organize workshops and training

References:

https://it-szkola.edu.pl/publikacje,plik,72

„Cyberprzemoc w szkole – jak chronić przed nią dzieci?”, 19.05.2021 https://ose.gov.pl/aktualnosci/wpis/cyberprzemoc-w-szkole-jak-chronic-przed-nia-dzieci