Brittany's Classroom Management Kit

The extent of the effect of cyberbullying can be measured in the tragic story of Megan Meier, who in 2006 met with a “boy” on Myspace and after being lead on with notes of love began to be battered by nasty messages. This spiraled out of control and Megan sunk into a depression before hanging herself on October 17, 2006. This case is only one of many that depict the real danger and tragedy that cyberbullying can reap. In a way, teachers are on a battlefield and this is the name of the fight.

 

It’s a hard ask to see what’s happening online within the school day – but the main thing to do is keep on the outlook for any outward signs in the classroom of students being harassed by their peers. Some of the methods used for managing bullying in the classroom can apply to cyberbullying management as well – especially since many instances of cyberbullying can carry over into the classroom environment.

 

Elizabeth Englander, the director of Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) and Kristin Schank, a MARC graduate assistant wrote up some tips about reducing bullying in the classroom, suggesting that teacher never ignore any bullying behavior – even if the teacher cannot report students for it. Englander and Schank wrote, “Ignoring even mild bullying behaviors is essentially the same as endorsing them.” By never allowing such behaviors to blossom into something bigger, bullying is nipped in the bud early – this is the crux of bullying prevention.

 

Those small moments of bullying that cannot be reported, such as whispering mean comments or laughing at expanse of another, are known as “gateway” behaviors. Gateway behaviors begin by poking fun, but can escalate into physically violent acts of shoving. Often, teachers miss these gateway behaviors even when they are present because it seems to be simply students “joshing” around. The sure-fire to find the difference between “joshing” and bullying is to observe your students inside and out the classroom – the easier way to watch outside the class is by greeting students as they come into the room. This way a teacher can see how students act in the hallways while also developing a rapport with each student so that a victim of bullying would feel more comfortable to report abuse. Teachers must also look at student’s body language and positions within a group, for example is a student is pulling away from someone after they speak, that denotes ill comfort. Also, knowing the lines of the student’s social groups helps see where one students stands to another- which can clue a teacher into bullying situations that occur without notice.

 

To aid in preventing bullying occurring, Becki Cohn-Vargas, the director of Not in Our School at Not in our Town, an anti-bullying movement and organization, suggests that the focus of education not be towards bullies or victims per say. Instead Vargas suggests that the focus of change be aimed at shifting the attitude of bystanders to bullying, who enable the bullying with their silence. In this regard a new word has been created, the word being that of Upstander. Schools all over are now chanting for students to be “Upstanders” and teaching them the effective tools and methods in which to use in speaking up in a bullying situation. This creates a sense of community, a collective voice that shouts the wrongness of bullying – which deters the bullies who seek to bully for the sake of some sense of being “cool”.

 

However, no matter how hard we observe our classes, teachers will miss out on the social cues of their students at one time or another. In these cases we must depend on the kindness and courage of our students to inform us of the situation at hand. However, in the course of MARC’s research Englander and Schank found that more than 80% of students felt that the risk of telling about bullying wasn’t worth it because they felt no one was doing anything about it. To remedy this, teachers must strive to develop a sense of trust with their students and an assurance that any incident of bullying will be taken care of. Teachers must foster an environment, where it is safe for students to divulge about bullying incidents.

 

In terms of dealing with bullying in the moment – in this case “gateway” behaviors, teachers must remember to confront the bully by reminding them of the rules against it and be calm and respectful in fitting the consequences to the misbehavior. For example Lucy pulls on Rowan’s ponytail, the teacher should decide on a consequences that fits and is not punitive to Lucy. Therefore, Lucy could be moved from Rowan’s presence if that punishment appears to fit the bullying and the attitude of the student bullying. Also, don’t brand bullies for life – a teacher’s goal is mastery and safety for all, being basis against your student won’t aid in that regard. Rather, teachers must take the chance to educate the bully in how to act socially and seek to foster kindness within that student.

 

In the end, Becki Cohn-Vargas gave the perfect remark as to the goal that teachers should aim for in terms of their classroom’s social setting, Vargas wrote:

 

“School needs to be a place where students discover their identities, and where each student feels that a unique identity is an asset to him or her -- and to the world. They need to feel emotionally comfortable in a warm and "identity safe" environment where stereotypes and stereotype threat (the fear of being judged by a negative stereotype) are addressed. Efforts to build empathy and involve students in the process of change can shift the school culture to one where offending or hurting someone else, either in person or online, is not seen as cool. The whole culture can become a warm, caring environment where bullying is much less likely to occur.”