There are all kinds of reasons why "bullying" and "cyberbullying" can't be applied to just any kind of mean behavior that happens in physical or digital spaces. Professor and author Justin Patchin goes into a bunch of them in his latest blog post, but parents may want to know why lack of definition is a problem for schools as well as for students. For example, Patchin writes, "recently-passed … [Read more...] about Why defining ‘bullying’ is important for schools
Risk & Safety
Does digital downtime fix FOMO?
Maureen O'Connor at New York Magazine calls it "the Band-Aid of Luddism." Not that anybody who takes days off from digital media is a Luddite. Certainly not. It's just that band-aids don't fix problems; they make them less visible (yes, and help keep things clean, but stay with me for a minute, here). "We have a tendency to blame technology-mediated problems on the technology itself," … [Read more...] about Does digital downtime fix FOMO?
Powerful lessons for preventing bullying & cyberbullying
It's October already, so National Cyber Security Awareness Month (#NCSAM2014) and National Bullying Prevention Month have arrived – offering a good reminder that, in today's increasingly user-driven digital environments, digital safety and security depend on all Net users of all ages. Care and respect for each other's property, privacy, identity, emotional safety and digital security – just about … [Read more...] about Powerful lessons for preventing bullying & cyberbullying
What are we really seeing in the social media fishbowl?
As a society, we're getting closer to the heart of social media safety, which is largely, not entirely, a blend of emotional and social (psychosocial) safety. This thoughtful piece by Prof. Justin Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center – "Bullies or Best Friends? The Challenge of Interpreting Interpersonal Relationships" – raises some important questions for parents and school staff as well … [Read more...] about What are we really seeing in the social media fishbowl?
At the IGF: Youth participation = greater youth e-safety
One of the best things about participating in the Internet Governance Forum is seeing the growing youth participation in sessions about their online protection. And one of the best things I've heard so far, after just 1.5 days of the IGF here in Istanbul this week came from Danish 15-year-old Olivia in a session about "Child Online Protection" where there was much discussion about technical, legal … [Read more...] about At the IGF: Youth participation = greater youth e-safety