Some time ago, we reported that a UK teachers union was trying to shutdown YouTube in the UK because teachers were being bullied and humiliated by students. I have little sympathy for teachers who find themselves bullied as it is generally the teachers not cut out for the job that get bullied. A real teacher inspires students to learn but carries just a little bit of menace. They do not take guff from teenage swine. Teachers are adults and as such should be responsible for dealing with their own problems, not whine about having to give students their contact details.
When it comes to students being bullied, however, I have a great deal of sympathy. As a teacher, I have borne witness to a great deal of student-student harassment. As a student, I always gave as good as I got, so I did not have too many problems. Still, I was growing up in the days before YouTube.
In my time, the closest parallel to cyber-bullying was telephone bullying. Victims would be targeted with prank phone calls. In the days before caller-ID, the chances of being discovered were minimal. Bullying over the phone was often in the form of the same taunts that were issued in the school hallway, but with telephone-bullying at least you could put the phone down.
People forget that with cyber-bullying, they have options too. It is not rocket science to figure out who is behind a harassing video. If someone posts something on YouTube, a simple report is generally enough to land them in a bit of hot water. If they post something extremely offensive and you have the budget for it, there is always the possibility of legal action. Video footage is hard evidence; use it against the person that created it.
Stamping out cyber-bullying is not rocket science; it does not need experts, seminars or meetings. It just needs a little common sense and some chutzpah on the part of their victims. As for UK teachers unions claiming that their members are victims, I say this: teachers who cannot deal with unruly students should be in a different job. Respect is earned, clearly they are not earning it.
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7 responses
Sep 23, 2007 at 9:10 am
Hi,
I totally disagree with your comments regarding cyberbullying.
For the past three years, I have spear-headed online safety education and awareness not only in my local elementary school, but two entire school regions. As Internet Safety Coordinator, I not only educate parents and educators, but children as well and the issue of cyberbullying is front and center.
For those unfamiliar with the issue of electronic bullying, some may assume in dealing with this type of bullying, it is as simple as shutting off one’s computer or cell phone. That is not the case.
Children, educators and principals are the targets of vicious cyberbullying attacks, worldwide. It is a rapidly growing problem that must be dealt with. There have been numerous documented cases of suicides because of cyberbullying. Education and awareness is key-many still don’t even know this type of bullying even exists. We DO need seminars, presentations, brochures, lectures or PSA’s-whatever works!
When hateful or cruel remarks are posted online, whether it be a teacher or a child, often times the victim does not know who wrote the hurtful comments. They have no way to defend themselves. In the cases of teachers, there are numerous websites available where students rate their teachers. Sounds harmless, right? The students remain anonymous, but the teacher is not so lucky. The educator’s real names, are posted online. The anonymous student says whatever they want to, and the teacher has no way to defend themselves. It can ruin reputations and be extremely hurtful. And the list goes on and on.
Having worked in my school district for the past six years, some behavior that I have witnessed exhibited by children towards adults is simply appalling. It is obvious that many have very little respect for adults. And it doesn’t matter if the adult is a teacher or police officer (I was married to the Chief of Police and used to work in police departments. The lack of respect towards officers was stunning and I can tell you, these police officers DID deserve respect!) The teachers I work with are hard-working, dedicated professionals. They deserve respect and unfortunately, some do not get it. Suggesting they change jobs, is doing a disservice not only to them, but to the student’s they teach.
Sep 23, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Jace,
I am interested in your comments regarding police officers. Our culture has become one where younger people are routinely disrespectful to people of authority. There are significant differences between teachers and police officers. The biggest difference is, most of the time, young people only come into real contact with police when they are doing something that they shouldn’t be. Emotions are inflamed, tempers are flared and the situation is somewhat hostile. It is a hard job that would be extremely stressful. Teachers on the other hand are in constant contact with their pupils. They have opportunities to see them in both positive and negative situations.
I have taught at schools that dealt specifically with teenagers who had disciplinary problems. I saw a lot of teachers come and go that were not able to handle themselves in the situation. Some found that they were better suited to other things.
Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher, the same as not everyone is cut out to be a police officer. It takes some guts and determination. I firmly believe that respect is earned.
Children do need to be protected from cyber-bullying, you have no disagreement with me there. Yet, you speak of the anonymity as if it actually exists. I doubt that many of the perpetrators of cyber-bullying have gone to the trouble of covering their tracks by hiding behind proxies. They can be found relatively easily. In the old days you dealt with bullying by standing up to it. Is today any different? If teachers take a weak line on cyber-bullying and do not stand up for themselves, what example does it set for students who are victims of the same treatment?
When I am in a classroom and a student is disrespectful, I deal with it. Not because I am disciplinarian or an authoritarian, but because of the example that it sets. Students might call me names and say revolting things about me from time to time. I am thick skinned and I really do not care.
If it got to the point that students were making libelous accusations about me, or posting insulting things on You Tube about me, would I be upset? Of course I would, but I would do everything I could to identify the perpetrators. I would take screen shots, I would capture video, I would make phone calls to webmasters and if that didn’t work I would go to the authorities. There is almost no anonymity on the web.
You might not be able to see who posts what on a site, but anyone with administrative privileges can. From your post on this site, I could identify your ISP and geographic location.
Now, I am not an administrator on YouTube, but all it takes is a phone call or an email to make a complaint about offensive material.
I think that if people get a little pro-active about it, they will be able to deal with the problem. My grandmother received prank phone calls for about a year. When she finally had enough, she bought a whistle and would blow it into the phone whenever the person called. The phone calls stopped soon after that. In life we are presented with challenges and obstacles. Some people choose to face them and other people choose to run and hide. What I suggest is that people who are in a position of authority, police officers, teachers and so on, be people who face their challenges not people who run away from them. To run away from a bully only reinforces their behavior.
Apr 22, 2008 at 11:32 am
I am simply sending this comment to thank you for writing this article. I am going to use it for a social commentary project which i have chosen to target on cyberbullying. I will be citing this source, and thanks again for posting this. If you have a problem with me using this, however, or would like it to remain anonmyous, please just tell me, and I will be glad to remove it from my project. Thanks.
Apr 22, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Go right ahead,
As long as you realize a few things. The article that I wrote was intended to provoke a response more than anything. Sometimes I play the devil”s advocate to draw out some discussion on a topic. You are free to use a link to my article, as long as you are clear on my message.
I think that cyber-bullying needs all the focus it can get. Just be careful with regards to using blog posts as a source: some institutions do not like it. Also, I would like to clarify some of my views on the matter if I may. I am 100% opposed to cyber-bullying, I believe that it is a terrible practice that needs to be brought to an end. I also believe teachers suffer from it.
That being said, I find the thought of teachers sitting around complaining about being victimized and making ludicrous kneejerk suggestions absolutely infuriating. Teachers are supposed to be moral exemplars. As a teacher, I believe it is my duty to pass on more than just textbook lessons of English, mathematics, history etc… I am also there to help the teenagers under my care grow to become mature, responsible adults. How can I do that if I cannot stand up to a few bullies? What lesson does it teach bullies if teachers look for ridiculous solutions every single time that there is a problem and what lesson does it teach teenage victims who doubtlessly suffer a great deal more? Banning YouTube won”t fix the issue, but getting proactive will.
I firmly believe that the best approach to any sort of bullying is to tackle it head on; it is not something to be put off because it is too difficult or because the social repercussions might be too strong. Inaction only encourages further injustice. One of the greatest morality tales of our time, in my opinion, is To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch is a person of privilege and a respected member of society, yet he puts everything on the line to help Tom Robinson. While Atticus Finch is a fictional character, I feel a teacher needs to do his or her utmost to uphold those attributes; that in my mind is embracing strength. To turn tail and run at the sign of opposition only teaches cowardice. This may appear to be archaic thinking to some and machismo to others, but if you ask me, courage in the face of adversity is the very foundation of social justice.
C.S. Magor
Apr 22, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Thanks, I appreciate it. As far as understanding why you wrote this article, you don’t have to worry about that.
I agree with the teachers comment. Teachers need to be role models for the children the teach. If they can’t stand up for themselves or the students they educate, they shouldn’t be in the profession. Teens need to see a strong leader figure that knows how to deal with being bullied. If a teacher is verbally assaulted in the classroom by a student do they go and cry to the principal? No, they stand up for themselves. I believe that this practice should remain firm in and out of the classroom. If students think that they can break their teacher’s moral fiber by simply posting a few deragatory names about them on their MySpace, what kind of respect wil that teacher get in the classroom.
I figured I would use this article for my project because although it doesn’t condone cyber bullying, it does bring it into a different light. It’s perfect social commentary because it’s a little edgy, it expresses an opinion, and it says what others often think; stop whining and do something about it!
Dec 14, 2008 at 4:34 am
Whereas I can agree with the “thick-skinned teacher” attitude (it’s a good one to have in this profession), I have to say that the “rest of the story” is not being well represented here. We live in a society of “vicitmization” and the kids have really caught on to that. They’ll tell you straight up that they’ll get you fired, put you in jail, etc…… And the most asinine part of it all is that our overly-flaming liberal society entertains it! “Oh, poor Johnny got his feelings hurt by the teacher. Let’s go whine and complain to the principal because we know he telling the truth.” Well, I think it’s ok for us to believe kids about what goes on in the classroom when it’s ok to believe them about what goes on at home. That’s one that will usually shut a billegerent parent up. As for what goes up on youtube or ratemyteacher.com, etc… well, HA! That’s just a lawsuite waiting to happen and I’m sure some lawyer somewhere is just licking his chaps, just waiting for the right teacher to come along with enough money. Unfortunately, the “get over it, be an example, quit whining you weak teacher” rhetoric is just one example of how you may be enabling them. If you’re willing to trump your co-workers’ authority in that regard, you’re just adding to the problem. Is it political? Yes. Is it idealistic as one would romanticize about Atticus Finch and his moral fibre? No. But hey, that’s life. Teachers have a right to whine about this. It’s just plain, simple, unambiguous abuse. But please, think through what you’re saying. You’re doing no favors for other teachers, or yourself for that matter, by enabling them. Cheers!
May 7, 2009 at 9:53 am
There’s no such thing as “cyberbullying.” It’s just a myth made up by the same whiny ultraleft people who say that it’s “mean” to write grades on papers in red ink or that competition is “bad”, and everyone has to be a winner. All that bullshit focus on self-esteem for self-esteem’s sake. We don’t hurt their POOR self-esteem! Lol
People seem to forget how different real life and the Internet really are. Unlike real life bullying at school, you CAN avoid this “cyberbullying” and do something about it! Hello? If you’re on myspace or facebook, you can block people you don’t want seeing your profile or make your profile visible to only a select few. With AIM, if someone bothers you, you can always block their account. It’s not that fuckin hard. I can’t believe some pansy-ass girl actually committed suicide over this shit.
Grow some balls, kids. If this were the 1950s or any decade before recently before the self-esteem nonsense and all that ultraliberal touchy-feely crap in public schools, everyone would tell you to wise up and stop being such wusses.
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