Journal Reflection #4

This week we learned about cyberbullying and it made me think of my friends. When I think of the group of friends I have, they are so diverse. My friends and I come from different backgrounds, ethnicities, different beliefs, and let's not even talk about politics. Sometimes I get questioned how can I be friends with someone that believes in the opposite of what I believe in. I always go back to compassion. All my friends, no matter their background, they all are very compassionate individuals and I'd like to believe that so am I and and that's why we get one another. Watching Monica Lewinsky's Ted Talk this week reminded me that being compassionate is a way we can face cyberbullying and move forward as a digital citizen.

I felt shocked listening to Monica Lewinsky. I guess I never put myself in her situation or really heard her side of the story. At the time the story was very one sided and made Lewinsky look like the bad guy. She was the tramp and not the victim, at least that is how the media portrayed her. I was 12 at the time the scandal broke out and only saw bits on the news, the situation was way over my head at the time. The older I got, I guess I never saw the humiliation side of things, she was a victim and took the blunt side of the scandal. Now I feel empathy towards her. I feel like in order to cope with the shame game, we need to empathize with others and like Lewinsky said, lead with compassion (2015).

We have to be vigilant about our digital footprint, things we put out there, and how we share information in order to protect ourselves and our students. Before this week, I had no clue there were so many types of cyberbullying. According to Siegle, there's eight types of cyberbullying (2010):

1. Flaming

2. Harassment

3. Denigration

4. Impersonation

5. Outing

6. Trickery

7. Exclusion

8. Cyberstalking

This really puts things into perspective as far as what our students are dealing with, some more than others, as they navigate online. We need to be aware of the potential ways our students can be cyberbullied and do our best to offer resources and support. Knowing that there’s at least eight different forms of cyberbullying was eye opening and important information this week. I teach kindergarten and try to model good behaviors, so this week also made me think of my seven year old daughter and things she will potentially face in the future as cyberbullying is not going away and evolving much like technology evolves. By the time she is in middle school or high school she needs to know what is considered to be cyberbullying so she doesn’t participate in it, and so that if she is a victim she can get support. I hope as my daughter grows and as my kindergarteners grow, they can make friends with people that are compassionate and show compassion in person and online.

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Resources

Lewinsky, M. (2015, March 20). The price of shame [Video]. TED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8y0WLm78U

Siegle, D.(2010). Cyberbullying and sexting: Technology abuses of the 21st century. Gifted Child Today, 32(2), 14-16, 65. Siegle_Cyberbullying_and_Sexting.pdf