Jounal 8 "Point/Counterpoint: Should schools be held responsible for cyberbullying?"

Journal 8

Bogacz, R, & Gordillo, M.G. (2011). Point/counterpoint:should schools be held responsible for cyberbullying?. Learning & Leading, 38(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Point_Counterpoint_Should_Schools_Be_Held_Responsible_for_Cyberbullying.aspx

 I find this article very interesting for many reasons, and my reasons are not particularly related to what parents, teachers or peers might think. I think that cyberbullying happens because the child has psychological problems. It is not, but it might be, because the parents are not giving the child enough love and they are not taking into consideration what their child is doing. Most parents do not care about what their children are doing on the internet, or while they are on their cell phones, when in fact they should. The article mentioned that parents should be more attentive to their children's behavior. Well that is quite hard when half of the time children are in school or out with their friends. 
There are so many ways in which a child can cyberbully someone else. It can either be through cell phone text messages, MSN, AIM, Facebook, Myspace, etc. These are all sites that students frequent on their daily lives, and mostly when they are home. There is not much that school can do about it, if this cyberbully is happening outside of school, but parents can certainly do a lot in order to help. We have heard of so many cases of cyberbullying and of children who have taken their lives because they cannot take the pressure, and still this is still happening. 
Schools can have classes that talk about these different issues to students and for them to see that it is not okay for them to bully their classmates simply because they find it funny. Because of this, there have been so many deaths in the US that it seems impossible to ever do something about it. And I think that the first that can do something about it are the students. They can come together and realize that what they are doing is not right, and that they can help change the way young teens view cyberbullying.

Q1: What are some solutions that schools, parents can come up with in order to stop cyberbullying?
A1: I think that there are many solutions that parents and teachers in general can come up with in order to help their students. The first one is to have classes that are primarily target the cyberbully issue. Simple PPT lessons or talks about it won't do. They need to be very specific about the problem, show facts, numbers, cases, in order for the students to get the idea. Parents, may I suggest, need to be more involved in the lives of their children. Simply believing that they are good kids and will never do, or go through such a problem will not due. They need to be able to have an open relationship with them and feel comfortable talking about anything. Most of the times, parents seems afraid of asking their children what is going on in their lives and that is completely wrong. Second, I think that the schools should prohibit students from having cell phones in the classroom, and/or bringing computers in. I think that this will simply bring down the percentages of bullying in schools and outside of school as well. 

Q2: What is the reason that students feel the need to cyberbully other classmates?
A2: That is something that it is hard to figure out. But maybe they feel that by doing so they have more power than their classmates and feel respected. But I think that instead of having respect, their fellow peers just have fear for them. Most of these kids that bully go through a psychological issue that makes them unsure of who they truly are. They might do such damage because they feel that it is the only way for them to get attention that they are seeking. Most of the time, these kids are in tremendous need of attention and support from their parents. Cyberbullying is the closes thing they find to get attention with.