Teachable moments abound
Published 1:49 pm Friday, July 23, 2010
It’s hard to imagine that we would ever miss the days when bullies were just juvenile punks who pushed kids around on the playground, using physical intimidation to prey on those they perceived to be vulnerable.
That was back in the days before bullies employed personal computers, instant messaging and the alluring opportunity to hide behind a cowardly veil of anonymity to terrorize their enemies.
Today, many of the most harmful tormentors are using keyboards and cell phones to harass, intimidate and embarrass their victims. Instead of their muscles, they’re flexing their “social power” by pushing kids down in cyberspace and stealing something far more valuable than lunch money: their victims’ self esteem.
Schools are increasingly pulled into the fray as teachers and administrators grapple to determine the appropriateness of in-school consequences for off-hours behavior. Conflicting messages from the courts on the topic of free speech make their job even tougher, in spite of new laws requiring schools to adopt even broader responsibility for assuring a safe and harassment-free learning environment.
Clearly, our schools have plenty of more critical priorities to focus on than acting as cyber police. We fear this modern-day harassment will continue to escalate until a broader form of education takes place, starting at home. Parents must play an active and ongoing role in defining age-appropriate exposure for their children to the broad range of social networking opportunities — and, at the same time, helping them understand the potential long-term consequences of inappropriate activities.
Kids need to know that you can’t take something back once it’s been posted. Even the sincerest of apologies won’t make a nasty comment disappear once it’s been shared online.
In addition, social-networking sites themselves must do a better job of communicating their terms of use and stop allowing underage kids to sign off on the ground rules with a few simple clicks.
It seems that the folks at Facebook, one of the world’s largest social sites, are taking their responsibility seriously. They announced in June that they’ve teamed up with the National PTA to work on ways to promote safe and responsible Internet use and to actively and aggressively address the ever-evolving issue of teen safety.
Clearly, there’s a need for an ongoing dialogue between students, parents, educators and even law enforcement. We’re hoping the collaboration between Facebook and the PTA will serve as an important first step in the right direction.
