Since our film screening and community dialogue this past April around the PBS Frontline special: Growing Up Online, the issue of cyber-bullying has continued to make news. The New York Times recently published a story called “Online Bullies Pull Schools Into the Fray”. The author profiles a Middle School in NJ as case study for how cyber-bullying is affecting school administration and faculty, and discusses what schools are currently doing and not doing to combat this growing problem.
This article seems to raise more questions than answers and despite several high profile deaths linked to cyber-bullying in recent years, it is clear this issue will remain tangled in a web of contradictory court rulings that will continue to tie the hands of school administrators. After reading this article I wonder whether or not it is even possible to define a universal legal ruling that can navigate the fine balance between first amendment infringement, privacy rights and the digital safety and welfare of our teens in and out of school.
What is clear is that parents must be the leaders in teaching their children the implications of digital responsibility. This is not as easy as it seems. At our April discussion Dr. Sharon Maxwell pointed out that the Internet has created a huge generation gap that can only be compared to the experience of first generation immigrant families in which the parents and children increasingly find they are speaking different cultural languages. Having not grown up with this technology, parents and educators find it difficult to identify with and supervise the highly private, online lives of their children and students.
Dr. Maxwell also stressed the importance of parents reaching out to other parents. Parents are learning on a trial by fire basis and communication between parents in every community about what is and what is not working is paramount to keeping youth safe on the Internet.
If you missed our April viewing of “Growing Up Online,” you can watch the entire documentary for free on the PBS web site. This next fall we will restart our film series and will be hosting an additional evening with Dr. Sharon Maxwell. Please check our web site later this summer for more information.
Post by Kyle Greaves, Account Assistant with The Karuna School
