INTERNET SAFETY

Illinois Law

• Bullying/Harassment105 ILCS 5/27-23.7 (2010) defines bullying and prohibits it in the school environment on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry age, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender-related identity or expression, unfavorable discharge from military service, association with a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual or perceived characteristics, or any other distinguishing characteristic. No student shall be subject to bullying during any school-sponsored education program or activity, while in school, on school property, on school buses or other school vehicles, at designated school bus stops waiting for the bus, at schools-sponsored or school-sanctioned events or activities, or through the transmission of information from a school computer, school computer network or other similar electronic school equipment. Bullying make take various forms, including without limitation one or more of the following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying. 

Illinois Law cont’d…

• 105 ILCS 5/27-23.7 (2010) requires each school district and non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school to create and maintain a policy on bullying. The policy must be communicated to the students and their parent or guardian annually, updated every 2 years and filed with the State Board of Education. The statute also creates the School Bullying Prevention Task Force and outlines its responsibilities.

105 ILCS 5/10-20.14 (2002) requires the school board, with the parent-teacher advisory committee and community based organizations, to include provisions in the student discipline policy to address students who have demonstrated behaviors that put them at risk for aggressive behavior, including without limitation bullying.

Current state laws & policies• http://

www.cyberbullying.us/Bullying_and_Cyberbullying_Laws.pdf

• As specified under Illinois School Code Section 5, “beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, a school district must incorporate into the school curriculum a component on Internet safety to be taught at least once each school year to students in grade 3 or above.”

49 of 50 states have bullying laws in place

1 of those 49 provides funding to support the law they have

3 Major Types of Bullying

• Gossiping “Did you hear…”

• Name calling “You are so….”

• Exclusion “You can’t sit here…”

TRUE OR FALSE…?

Bullies are usually insecure and have low self-esteem.

• Bullies are typically popular and have a high self-esteem.

• They feel entitled to their behavior.

Effects of bullying are short term & minor.

• Research says that 50% of people bullied aren’t effected it by the event(s) later

• The other 50% of people bullied say they never forget it, ever & it stays with them

Bullies usually outgrow their bullying behavior.

• 60% of bullies, in grades 6-9, have been convicted of one registered crime by age 24.

• Bullying is a learned behavior, it’s what they see somewhere in their own environment.

It’s obvious when a student is being bullied.

• The victim’s facial expressions generally display an “it’s ok” attitude.

• Bullies are smart about where & when to bully• happens often in out of the way places; restrooms• blind spots in the hallways• coming & going to school when there isn’t

supervision• Bus, when a driver is concentrating on the driving

Bullying Facts

• Most bullying is NOT physical but is mean names, exclusion, and gossip, rumor, lies.

• More bullying is done by boys, but girl bullying is increasing.

• Bullying is more likely during school hours than on the way to and from school.

• Bullying involves imbalance of power. It is a form of victimization and not about conflict.

• Adults are often unaware of bullying problems and the extent to which bullying occurs in schools.

CyberBullying.us defines cyber bullying as "willful and repeated harm inflicted through the

medium of electronic text." Research compiled by: Dr. Justin W. Patchin and Dr.

Sameer Hinduja. One of the best ways to fight an issue, such as bullying, is

to have correct facts and figures.

• Cyber bullying statistics show that the affect this abuse has on victims can be devastating. Cyber victimization has been shown to cause poor grades, emotional spirals, poor self-esteem, repeated school absences, depression, and in some cases suicide. These outcomes are similar to real-life bullying outcomes, except for that with cyber bullying there is often no escape. School ends at 3 p.m,. while the Internet is open 24/7.

More Known Facts about Cyber Bullying

• Cyber bullying can happen in many different arenas such as e-mails, Web sites, text messaging, cell phones, three-way calling, video, blogs and any other form of communication that occurs electronically. Cyber bullies sometimes, but not always, know their victims in real life.

• It’s easier for a bully to get away with abusing another individual online than offline. The obvious reason is anonymity. No one will ever likely see the abuse occur unless the victim tells. And as the research above shows, this rarely happens.

• Statistics are useful; they often outline important problems but the next step is to learn how to deal with the impact of cyber bullying. Taking step to prevent cyber bullying is the most important issue when it comes to helping teens.

The six most common forms of cyberbullying have been described as:

• Harassment:• Repeatedly sending offensive, rude, and insulting messages• Denigration:• Distributing information about another that is derogatory and untrue through posting it on a web

page, sending it to others through email or instant messaging, or posting or sending digitally altered photos of someone.

• Flaming:• Online "fighting" using electronic messages with angry, vulgar language• Impersonation• Breaking into an email or social networking account and using that person's online identity to

send or post vicious or embarrassing material to /about others.• Outing and Trickery:• Sharing someone's secrets or embarrassing information, or tricking someone into revealing

secrets or embarrassing information and forwarding it to others.• Cyber Stalking• Repeatedly sending messages that include threats of harm or are highly intimidating, or

engaging in other online activities that make a person afraid for his or her safety (depending on the content of the message, it may be illegal)

http://webwisekids.org/pdf/Cyberbullying-Prevention-and-Response-Kit.pdf

Change can happen with bystanders.

• Address bystander behavior and you can decrease the bullying behaviors.

• Create the culture to stop the bullying when you see it.• Talk about safety, when to step in

On the line video…

Xfinity Parent Resources• http://xfinity.comcast.net/parents/

• Video• Parent Resources

As a society, we’ve been talking about youth online risk for years, but we’ve only just begun to talk about young people’s resilience, which is what helps them keep risk from turning into harm.

• resilience – the ability to deal with negative experiences without being upset by them – doesn’t come from avoiding risk, online or offline.

• …as children learn how to adequately cope with (online) adversities, they develop (online) resilience,” write Leen d’Haenens, Sofie Vandoninck and Verónica Donoso of EU Kids Online in the UK.

http://www.netfamilynews.org/study-on-long-neglected-factor-in-net-safety-resilience

• What it enables: “Resilient children are able to tackle adverse situations in a problem-focused way, and to transfer negative

emotions into positive (or neutral) feelings,” the authors write.

• Gender differences: Boys were less resilient at a younger age, girls were less resilient as teenagers.

• Online and offline inseparable: “Children with more psychological problems suffer more from online as well as offline risks”

(resonant with findings of a just-released study in the US that builds on earlier research cited here)

• Most popular coping strategy (but resilient kids usually use more than 1): “Talking to somebody is the most popular employed

strategy, regardless of the type of risk, especially among girls and younger children who tend to employ this communicative

strategy more often.” The authors recommend encouraging “open communication, both at home and at school.”

• Other education needed: Teach children effective coping strategies, including blocking and abuse-reporting tools, but especially

social-emotional literacy (I added the latter, based on other research and the authors’ advice that “special attention to children

with low self-efficacy and psychological difficulties … is crucial.”

• It’s not either/or, but a spectrum: “Being resilient is not a simple ‘yes or no’ question, and … would rather be understood as a

continuum from very low to very high resilience.” Over all, “girls, younger children, children with more psychological problems,

those receiving more support from their friends, children whose parents mediated their internet use and children whose parents

were low internet users were less resilient.”

• Parents’ own tech use a significant factor: Promoting Net use by parents “is crucial, as parents who are frequent internet

users themselves feel more confident with the medium, and also feel more confident in guiding their children … promoting a

positive attitude toward online safety and proactive coping strategies.”

• Mediation better than restriction: In terms of parenting style, the authors write that “monitoring or mediating approaches seem

to be more beneficial for children’s online resilience than restrictive ones.” They add that more research is needed for different

types of risks and on social practices of young people (such as the article in Pediatrics discussed below).

• Taking away the Net doesn’t help: It’s related to a passive or fatalistic approach that doesn’t build self-confidence or -efficacy

online, the researchers found. “Going offline was related to missing out on online opportunities, and the problem could easily re-

occur because the cause had not been tackled.”

• Educators key too: Teachers are needed to “stimulate their pupils to resort to proactive problem-solving strategies,” so

“sufficient digital skills among the teachers themselves are therefore essential.”

How much time do teens spend online?

• UK study says- 31 hours per week• Nielson study says – 11.2 hours per week• Another study from

http://hugapanda.com/blog/2010/01/how-much-time-do-american-teens-spend-online/

has this to say:  

I think kids/teens are online like all of the time…

Do not respond to an online bully• Do not reply to emails, posts, IM's or text messages. This

is what the bully wants. They want you to engage with them. They want to manipulate you into responding.

• If you respond in any way that is emotional or lets them know that they are getting to you and are able to make you upset it only encourages the cyber bully.

Don’t delete bullying information• Messages sent on the internet are traceable. Make sure

to keep all messages as the police will be able to use this information to track down the culprit. Do not delete any messages and save as much information you can about chats, IM's, text messages, blog posts, websites, etc.

• This will also help show just how often the cyber bullying takes place, at what times and even from which location. Every computer, server and device connected over the (TCP/IP) network has a unique IP (Internet Protocol) address. Police along with the cyber bully's ISP (Internet Service Provider) can use this information to trace the bully right to his or her house.

Report Cyber-bullying or Stalking• It is your responsibility to report this behavior so the

perpetrators can be dealt with. • Report to your ISP• Report to local authorities

Posting on social networks• You can secure a social networking page for yourself but

are you securing everything?• Many still show pictures from your page

• There is a setting to secure your pictures when you upload them

• Are you posting pictures of others? Do you have their permission?

• The fun little questionnaires & games: your answers can sometimes be used against you

Questions to ask yourself…• Is this OK for my “Grandma” (or ______) to read or see?• Is this representing the person I am working to be?• Could this be misunderstood?• Is it positive?

Goals…• Become critical readers of online information• Make wise choices about sharing information• Make wise choices about purchasing online • Self-evaluate- what I am adding to my (online) community

• If you wouldn’t say it to a person’s face…

Why put it online?

• What do our kids see us do as adults, that they may think is OK? That may be bullying in reality? What actions do we need to change ourselves?

Snapchat• What is Snapchat?

• http://www.snapchat.com/static_files/parents.pdf• If Snapchat obtains knowledge that a user is under the

age of 13, it is our policy to terminate the account and delete any personal information associated with that account.

Instagram

What is Instagram?• Instagram is a photo sharing mobile app that’s (currently) only

available on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Users can either upload a photo from their device’s library or take a photo right then and there and use Instagram to change the way the photo looks.

• The user then has the option to simultaneously upload this photo to a number of social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Foursquare, depending on which ones they sync to their Instagram account. The photo will also be uploaded to the Instagram community where people can like and comment on it.

• http://internet-safety.yoursphere.com/2012/02/instagram-is-it-okay-for-kids-what-parents-need-to-know/

Vine Video App• What parents need to know• Parents need to know that Vine is a social media app that lets you

post and watch looping six-second video clips. The Twitter-owned service has taken the online world by storm, but parents need to be aware that it is full of inappropriate content for children. With the most basic creative searching, kids can find nudity, sex, drug use, offensive language, hard core sexuality, and more. While there are plenty of cute, fun videos, even adults might be shocked at some of the things they find. In iTunes, the app is listed for 17+, and users must confirm that they are 17 or older before installing (this is as simple as tapping "OK" -- there is no verification). While it's possible to limit the people watching your videos to just your followers, users must constantly monitor who's following them to ensure their videos aren't being shown to strangers.

Wage peace…

Conduct a climate survey Adult supervision is increased in hot spots Set school-wide expectations and enforce Adults intervene when they observe any instance of

bullying Be proactive and talk about it Empower bystanders to step up to do the right thing Set classroom rules/expectations:

• Respect other physically & emotionally

• Include others in groups

• Help others being bullied

Rosalind Wiseman-Culture / Climate

• Culture: is the unwritten rules, shared ideas, assumptions, values and beliefs that give an organization its identity.

• Climate: is the quality and character of school life based on patterns of students, parents and school personnel‘s experience of school life and reflects the norms, goals, values, teaching and learning practices.

When a child feels they’ve been a target- you don’t:

• Say- bullies are insecure, jealous or weak• Ignore it, walk away• Say- I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it• That’s just the way the they are/boys are/etc.• You’ll be stronger for the experience• Say to hit them back

Don’t…

-Ask kids to work it out!

-Ask the bully to apologize to the victim and think that the

apology ends things.

Victim Strategies - DO

• Spend time with student to learn about the situation. Get the facts: who, what, when, where, and how to assess the student’s reaction to bullying.

• To help the student feel less powerless, ask the student what he or she needs to feel safe at school.

• Let other staff know so they can provide support and assistance.

• Follow-up to let the student know you are a resource.• Have student keep an Instance Log. • Follow-up with administration and parents.

When a child feels they’ve been a target- you do:

• Say you are sorry it happened• Thank you for telling me• Together we’re going to work on this• If we need to bring someone else in, we will decide

together and I’ll go with you if you want

On the spot interventions…http://www.wagepeacetoday.com/

• Intervene immediately – stand between the bully and the victim.

• Label the action as bullying behavior and refer to the rules that were violated and the consequence.

• Support the victim-reassure him/her that bullying behavior will not be tolerated. Have victim share information and log the incident.

• Confront the perpetrator(s) and give immediate sanctions for the behavior. Consequences need to be predetermined.

Interventions: http://www.stopbullying.gov/educators/index.html

• Intervene immediately. Separate the students involved. Do not immediately ask about or discuss the reason for the bullying or try to sort out the facts.

• Request more information.  Get the facts. Speak to students involved (participants and observers) in the incident separately and ask what happened.

• Tell the students you are aware of their behavior. Talk to the students involved separately.

• Make it a teachable experience.  Helping bystanders understand what has happened and why may be important for preventing future incidents.

Interventions, con’t…

• Address bystanders and provide guidance on how to intervene.

• Inform the parents as quickly as possible – a call home the same day is preferable, followed by an appointment at school for the parents, if necessary. The parents and school officials should be involved in designing a creative plan of action. Do not bring conflicting parties together.

Effective bullying prevention efforts focus mainly on:

• Setting and enforcing behavior standards that lead to feelings of safety for all

• Building positive staff-student relationships • Supporting targets of bullying • Helping bullying youth find other ways to meet their

needs • Empowering peer bystanders to act.

Communicating with Parents

• Gather information about incidents• Generate ideas for intervention plans that address bullying

• Focus on the issues• Remain calm and do not become defensive• Emphasize common goals• Express a desire to work with parents• Bullying behaviors often come from seeing it elsewhere. Do not attack or blame parents.

Before

During

Communicating with Parents, con’t

State facts without making commentary Listen respectfully Develop intervention plans that involve parents Encourage parents to have discussions with their

child at home Emphasize the importance of the home-school

partnership Clearly describe what action each party will take End with positive comments

Engage in on-going communication and follow-upAfter

Bullying

Resources:

www.wagepeacetoday.com

www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov

www.stopbullyingworld.com

Bullying Prevention Handbook: A guide for Principals, Teachers, and Counselors. John Hoover and Ronald Oliver. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

Preferred Resources:

• Dr. Michael Carpenterhttp://www.wagepeacetoday.com/

• Dorothy Espelagehttp://www.espelageagainstbullying.com/

• Rosalind Wisemanhttp://rosalindwiseman.com/

• WebWiseKidswww.webwisekids.org

• Common Sense Mediawww.commonsensemedia.org

Bullying Public Service Announcements

• A great example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gliHyklHr6c&feature=player_embedded

IT'S UP TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS TO HELP KIDS BECOME RESPONSIBLE AND HONEST CITIZENS OF THE FUTURE. THAT MEANS THEY HAVE TO BE ABLE TO APPLY THE LESSONS THEY LEARN IN LIFE TO THEIR ONLINE AND MOBILE LIVES. BE KIND, BE HONEST. DON'T DO SOMETHING THAT WOULD HARM ANOTHER. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHO AND WHAT YOU CAN TRUST. BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU REVEAL TO OTHERS. WE TEACH OUR KIDS THESE THINGS EVERY DAY. LET'S REMEMBER TO EXTEND OUR PARENTING WISDOM TO THEIR ONLINE AND MOBILE WORLDS. THIS WAY WE RAISE SAFE, RESPONSIBLE KIDS WHO CAN ENJOY THE AMAZING POWERS OFFERED BY THESE AMAZING TECHNOLOGIES.

www.commonsensemedia.org

WE- You & I- set the example…

HTTP://WWW.THEWAYTOHAPPINESS.ORG/#/PRECEPTS/VIDEOS/HI/TREAT-OTHERS-LIKE-YOU-WANT-THEM-TO-TREAT-YOUWhat we hope for our community…