Online Bullying The Role of Character Education

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Online Bullying The Role of Character Education

• By
• Jacqueline Ringgold Jones
• Character Education Consultant

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Presentation Overview

• What?
• So What?
• Now What?
• Next Steps

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What? What is bullying?

• The Maryland Student Records Manual defines
  bullying as intentional negative actions on the
  part of one or more students, repeatedly and over
  time that interfere with a students ability to
  participate in or benefit from the schools
  education programs.

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What? What is bullying?

• Bullying can be direct or indirect.
• Behaviors
• - Physical Aggression
• - Verbal Aggression
• - Non-Verbal Aggression
• - Social Alienation
• - Cyber Bullying
• - Sexual Harassment

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What? What is cyber-bullying?(cyber bullying
cyber-bullying cyberbullying)

• Cyber-bullying is harassing, humiliating,
  intimidating or threatening others on the
  Internet or via cell phones and other technology
  available to youth (e-mails, Web pages, instant
  messaging, and other electronically communicated
  messages).
• Report on Bullying Harassment in Maryland
  Public Schools (page 7)

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• Warning Signs
• - Change in school performance
• - Absenteeism
• - Truancy/drop out
• - Peer rejection
• - Fear of social situations

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• Warning Signs
• - Poor self-esteem
• - Chronic illness
• - Hyper-vigilance
• - Substance abuse
• - Suicide

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• Stories of Cyberbullying
• Cyber Bullying No Muscles Needed
• Published June 6, 2005
• By Joan E. Lisante
• www.connectforkids.org

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• A Story of Cyberbullying
• When Chad, a 7th grader, found out his old
  girlfriend was dissing his new flame, he wasted
  no time. Chad headed straight for the computer,
  and sent Instant Messages threatening to kill his
  old girlfriend to an extensive buddy list.

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• A Story of Cyberbullying
• Several buddies freaked and told their
  parents, who called the school, which contacted
  the police. Ultimately, Chad was banished to
  another middle school and went to juvenile court,
  where a judge sentenced him to 25 hours of
  community service.

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• A Story of Cyberbullying
• Unfortunately, about the only unusual thing
  about this story is that Chad got caught and was
  held legally responsible.
• INSTANT GRATIFICATION AND TECHNOLOGY ARE A
  DANGEROUS MIX!

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• A Story of Cyberbullying
• Voted Off the 6th Grade Island?
• Deboral Lane, Principal of Oak View Elementary
  School in Fairfax County, Virginia, is well aware
  of how an online bully can wreck the educational
  environment for an entire school.

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• A Story of Cyberbullying
• One of Oak Views students decided to do a
  survey on the top five hated kids in the 6th
  grade. In a twist on American Idol, he set up a
  Web site where kids could vote for their least
  favorites.

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• A Story of Cyberbullying
• The parents of one loser appeared at school,
  telling Lane their daughter refused to attend
  school. (She did return later.) The cyber
  bullys parents had no idea he was running a
  reverse popularity contest, and parents of the
  other victims didnt want to involve the police.

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What? How does bullying adversely affect
students?

• A Story of Cyberbullying
• Lane decided to sponsor an in-school program
  on damage online harassment can cause, as well as
  what parents could do to prevent this behavior.

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What? Policies Governing Off-Campus Internet Use

• Protected Speech A persons free speech rights
  under the constitution.
• True threats are not protected speech.
• Person making threat must intend for the
  statement to be a serious threat.
• School must prove the speech disrupts instruction
  or impinges on the rights of others.
• 2006 MSDE Cyber-Bullying Presentation

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So What? Federal Law HB 284

• Federal Legislation (HB 284) allows schools to
  use federal monies for bully-prevention programs
  if
• - Bullying and harassment is included in
  discipline policies
• -Procedures for reporting and resolving
  complaints are in place
• - Parents are given annual notice regarding
  these policies and procedures

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So What? COMAR 13a.04.05.05-1Maryland State
Board of Education Regulation

• All students in Marylands public schools,
  without exception and regardless of race,
  ethnicity, region, religion, gender, sexual
  orientation, language, socioeconomic status, age
  or disability have the right to educational
  environments that are safe, optimal for academic
  achievement, and free from any form of
  harassment.

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So What? Maryland State Law

• HB 407
• Safe Schools Reporting Act of 2005
• Chapter 547
• Acts of the General Assembly 2005
• This is a data collection system to collect
  information on acts of harassment and
  intimidation in the state.

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So What? Online Information

• www.marylandpublicschools.org
• Harassment and Intimidation (Bullying) in
  Maryland Public Schools A Report to the Maryland
  General Assembly on Incidents Reported Under the
  Safe Schools Reporting Act of 2005
• The Maryland Student Records System Manual
• Report on Bullying Harassment in Maryland
  Public Schools

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Now What? Character Education

• CEP (Character Education Partnership) defines
  character education as a national movement
  creating schools that foster ethical,
  responsible, and caring young people by modeling
  and teaching good character through emphasis on
  universal values that we all share. It is the
  intentional, proactive effort by schools,
  districts, and states to instill in their
  students important core, ethical values such as
  caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and
  respect for others. Character education is not a
  quick fix. It provides long-term solutions
  that address moral, ethical, and academic issues
  that are of growing concern about our society and
  the safety of our schools.

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Now What? Character Education

• Character education not only cultivates minds, it
  nurtures hearts.
• Character education gets to the heart of the
  matter literally.
• Character education can be a proactive
  intervention for cyber bullying.

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Activity

• TOSSING BALLS

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COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM

• Research indicates that when schools implement a
  comprehensive program of bullying prevention,
  they can significantly reduce this problem. In
  studies by Professor Dan Olweus, a Norwegian
  psychologist, show that bullying incidents can be
  cut in half by implementing a school-wide
  anti-bullying program.
• - The ABCs of Bullying Prevention A
  Comprehensive Schoolwide Approach by Kenneth
  Shore, Psy.D.

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COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM

• Effective programs require strong administrative
  leadership and ongoing commitment on the part of
  the adults in the school-system.
• Programs that show the most promise are
  comprehensive in approach. They involve the
  entire school community including families and
  include school-wide interventions, classroom
  activities, and individual interventions.
• www.StopBullyingNow.hrsa.gov

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Jackies Spin on Character Education

• Program
• Process
• Adults Modeling
• Engage Students
• Students Internalize Positive Character Traits
• Good Character Becomes a Way of Life
• Character Education becomes Character Development

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Lets look through the lens of Character
Education as a proactive intervention for Cyber
Bullying
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PROGRAM and PROCESS

• Program
• The program is what you are going to implement.

• Process
• The process is how your are going to implement
  and maintain your program

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PROGRAM and PROCESS Helpful
Hints

• Infuse cyber bullying intervention strategies
  into your existing character education program.
• If you dont have an existing program, use
  backward design. Conduct a needs assessment and
  plan your program around desired outcomes.
• Dont forget to collect baseline data.

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Adults Modeling Technomanners Actions Speak
Louder Than Words

• Be discreet. Steer clear of inappropriate
  conversations, both on cell phones and when
  e-mailing.
• Be polite. Dont say anything in a text or
  e-mail message that you would not normally say to
  someone in person.
• Resource October 1, 2006 Family Circle Magazine
• Article generation RUDE by Mary Mohler
• familycircle.com

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Student Engagement

• A successful character education program engages
  students in the planning and implementation
  process.
• Its what you do with the students not to
  them.

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Student Engagement Activities

• Class Discussions
• Class Meetings
• Student Advisory
• Student Advisory Council
• Student Organizations
• Service-Learning
• Student Forums
• School-wide Campaign

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Student Forums

• Student Forums are more than an
• assembly.
• Forums require the following
• Long-range Planning
• Agenda
• Training of Student Facilitators
• Action Planning
• Follow-up

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School-wide Campaign

• A slogan for a school-wide campaign could
• be
• Be Responsible
• Respect Technology
• Think Before You Click Send
• Resource TEENANGELS at www.teenangels.org

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School-wide Campaign Activities

• Posters
• Newsletter Articles
• Essay Contest
• Student Designed Buttons, T-Shirts, or Bumper
  Stickers
• Video/DVD
• Assembly Planned by Students and Teachers
• Public Service Announcements

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NEXT STEPS Action Planning

• In the Next Steps column of your paper jot down
  three things that you are going to try or take
  back to your team.
• Lets Share.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

• The quality of caring we give determines
  whether we are successful as individuals, as
  families, as communities, and as nations.
• - Eunice Kennedy Shriver

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Thank You!

• Jacqueline Ringgold Jones
• Character Education Consultant
• E-mail jackie1character_at_aol.com
• Note If you send an e-mail, please put C3
  Conference in the subject area or the mail will
  not be opened.