Addressing Cyberbullying in Middle Schools

By: Sydney Cook

"Face it; we are living in a wired world," said one of the presenters of "Sexting, Texting, and Cyberbullying: Programming for Dealing with Technology in the Impulsive, Boundary-free Middle School World." After dealing with its own sexting incident, a Maryland school stepped up its cyberbullying and Internet policies, which formed the basis of this presentation by Rebecca Bloom, Erika Huff, and Michael Kryder. One part of the presentation that packed a punch was two video clips that took a script of classic cyberbullying and showed what it would be like if the words were said in person. "If you wouldn't say it in person, don't say it online" was the campaign slogan of the National Crime Convention Council, the creators of the videos. The presenters used the clip effectively, and it made an immense impact on the overall reaction of the audience members and drove home the importance of preventing bullying in their own schools. The presenters gave some helpful tips and approaches for managing and preventing the bullying that is often veiled in cyberspace.