One of the most common types of bullying nowadays is cyberbullying. And while bullying is relatively easy for you as a teacher to spot, you may find it difficult to detect if a student is being bullied online, even if it is by a classmate. After that, the most effective way to deal with such phenomena is to inform and sensitize your students about what to do in case they are being cyberbullied. The first stage is for them to recognize that they have been bullied, so inform them of the types: threatening messages on a student’s mobile phone or PMS, sharing their personal details on websites, sending photos of them with mocking comments, sending messages to others pretending to be the student, sending emails to the student with pornographic content, stealing PMS passwords and using their profile inappropriately, online polls in their name, being banned from group chats, spreading rumours online, etc.α. Then they should realise that they are not responsible themselves, but it is a behaviour that shows that this person is suffering and probably the child has also received abusive behaviours. Then discuss with them ways of dealing with cyberbullying, such as: printing out the posts and then deleting them, ‘blocking’ or ‘reporting’ the bullies, not responding and not replying and most importantly: reporting it to a trusted adult. Also how physical bullying relates to cyber bullying, what the differences are and when they meet. It is suggested that awareness of cyberbullying be raised throughout the classroom as it is particularly useful, not only for the children who are bullied but also for those who bully. Making them aware of the psychological as well as practical consequences of their actions will help them to think better next time.
“Words that hurt”
The facilitator puts a piece of measuring paper in the centre of the circle and asks a child to volunteer to lie down on the paper to trace its outline with a marker. The group gives him a name. He then hands out a piece of paper to the children on which each of them will anonymously write a characterization they would never want anyone to say about them. The facilitator collects the papers and begins to write down around the outline those words that “hurt”. With each word written down, a student stands up and uglifies the sketch in some way of their choice (e.g. scribble, press, tear, etc.) . The facilitator then divides the children into 4 sub-groups and hands out a worksheet each. Each group will have to work through the effects of the previous activity on the child in the sketch -Group 1 will discuss and record the effects of the bad behaviour on the thoughts of the child in the sketch. (
e.g. What thinks about himself, about others, about the present, the future, etc.)
– The 2nd group will discuss and record the effects of the bad behaviour on the feelings of the child in the sketch.(e.g. what does he feel, fear, shame, sadness, guilt, etc.) -The 3rd group will discuss and record the effects that the bad behavior has on the body of the child in the sketch. (e.g., how and where are negative thoughts/emotions imprinted on the body?) -Group 4 will discuss and record the effects that bad behavior has on the behavior of the child in the sketch. (e.g., may cry, isolate, etc.) Each group will designate a representative to record on the sketch the effects they had to work through. “Do Undo!” Finally,the facilitator suggests that the students try to undo the damage done to the sketch child in any way they can think of. In the reframing the facilitator is important to point out to the students that no matter how much they try to “beautify” the child sketch it will never be the same as it was before. The wounds created by bullying are similar to the interventions they made to the sketch. The consequences become even worse when one considers the power of the internet as what is uploaded , stays there forever and cannot be “collected” as in the physical world. Furthermore, the exposure is multiplied as no one can control its reach. No matter how much they try to make things right and apologize for their actions, often the wounds from bullying do not heal and affect the person’s life in issues such as trust, relationships etc., both in the present and in the future. Makaronis, S. & Siafarika, E., (nd).
Youth Tech. Guide for facilitators of experiential workshops on the safe use of technology , Ed. A. Tsitsika. Adolescent Health Unit (AHU) and “Together for Adolescent Health” scientific organization, Pp.56-57.
