Criminal charges for cyberbullying minors has long been possible, but now we have signs of a trend. Example: Two Florida teens, 15 and 16, received felony charges for creating a fake profile and posting "lewd comments and obscene pictures" of a fellow student, a local TV station reported. They were charged with aggravated stalking of a minor under 16. Of course "most of these laws don't use the … [Read more...] about Teens criminally charged for cyberbullying
Risk & Safety
School social workers on cyberbullying: Study
A study published this month in the journal Children & Schools found that 45% of school social workers for grades pre-K through 12 "feel ill-equipped" to deal with cyberbullying, PsychCentral.com reports. I honestly think part of the reason for that high number is because cyberbullying has been so misrepresented and misunderstood in our society to date – represented all too much as a … [Read more...] about School social workers on cyberbullying: Study
Addendum: Wisdom from a school counselor
After watching Brene Brown's talk, my friend Patti Agatston, a counselor with a school district in the Atlanta area and co-author of Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age, added some helpful background: "I loved the talk as well. [Brown] alluded to my favorite quote from the psychologist Rudolph Dreikurs, "Have the courage to be imperfect." He studied under the psychologist Alfred Adler … [Read more...] about Addendum: Wisdom from a school counselor
Attorneys sanctioned for cyberbullying
I hope no parent thinks cyberbullying is just "kid stuff." Before we can really expect our children to put a stop to it, we adults will have to stop modeling social aggression ourselves! Case in point (no pun intended): "Two Florida lawyers who called each other a 'retard' and 'scum sucking loser' in escalating email insults [over six months] have been sanctioned by the state supreme court," the … [Read more...] about Attorneys sanctioned for cyberbullying
For our kids’ sake, more than accountability online, pls
Maybe Plato was wrong. Or maybe he just frames the challenge we face in promoting digital citizenship and weakening the disinhibition factor online. A thoughtful opinion piece about online trolling, mean comments, flaming, etc. in the New York Times reports that, "even in the fourth century B.C., Plato touched upon the subject of anonymity and morality in his parable of the ring of Gyges. That … [Read more...] about For our kids’ sake, more than accountability online, pls