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Meanness Muting
Here are some tips to help keep digital spaces safe and civil.
*Think twice before posting a pho- to or comment that could be taken out of context and misappropriated.
*Report bad behavior to an adult that can help figure out the right course of action.
*Don’t portray youth as victims, which can perpetuate the idea they are weak and vulnerable targets.
Silencing Cyberbullies How to Defuse Bad Actors
by April Thompson W
hether it’s a damaging rumor posted on Facebook, a humili- ating photo shared on Insta-
gram or a threatening text, cyberbullying is increasing among today’s youth. A 2015 Cyberbullying Research Center study of middle school students found that 43 percent had been targeted, while 15 percent admitted to being online bul- lies. Meanwhile, students, parents and teachers are combating cyber-aggression with initiatives to make the phenomenon socially unacceptable in schools.
Grassroots Action Tyler Gregory, 23, attended a small, insular high school in rural Ohio where bullying was problematic. As a senior with younger siblings approaching their high school years, he aimed to change the local culture to make bullying uncool. Gregory decided to make a movie to submit to the NO BULL Challenge, a na- tional organization that provides students a platform to develop and disseminate materials that spark dialogue about such troubling issues. Challenges ranged from teaching himself filmmaking and persuad- ing students to participate to mustering the courage to present the project to his school. He achieved the transformation
he sought, beginning with 70 students participating in his production. “I appealed to classmates by asking,
‘How do you want to be remembered? Why not choose to be viewed positively, as leaders?’” says Gregory, who later became a spokesperson for NO BULL Challenge. To date, the challenge has received 600 submissions, garnering 23 million impressions through digital and social media, the vehicles of cyberbul- lies. A recent graduate of Dayton, Ohio’s Wright State University, Gregory has spo- ken to about 45,000 students in 27 states in school assemblies.
*Save cyber evidence to help officials take appropriate action. Some schools now have online reporting systems that allow students to anonymously submit screenshots from social media.
*Don’t retaliate. It likely will only aggravate unwanted behavior and drag everyone down to the cyber- bully’s level of consciousness.
*Keep watch. Apps like Online Guardian for Families, CyberSynchs and YouDiligence allow parents to monitor children’s exposure on social media via keywords related to bullying.
Resources:
EmbraceCivility.org;
Cyberbullying.org;
Tinyurl.com/Bully PreventionTips;
Tinyurl.com/Apps BlockBullies;
StopBullying.gov/ cyberbullying.
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natural awakenings March 2017 27
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