Cyberbullying


 * Scenario:** James is frustrated and saddened by the comments his high school peers are making about his sexuality. Furthermore, it appears a group of male students are creating fake e-mail accounts at Yahoo.com and are sending love notes to other male students as if they came from James - who is mortified at the thought of what is happening.

In this example of James being the target of cyber bullying it has escalated to the point where it is time for intervention from a third party. As a teacher I would quickly try to identify the source of where the bullying is coming from. James might have an idea of who is doing it and needs to know that it is safe to express that. I would notify first the school officer that it is happening to this student and suggest to who the group of boys might be. Furthermore I would talk with IT coordinator for the school to see if this harassment is being done on campus, if so it might be able to be eliminated. Certainly the students who are doing the bullying’s parents would be notified, but maybe too, Yahoo administration would be made aware of the situation. I think that it is part of the school’s responsibility to educate other students as to identifying cyber bullying and the variety of safe options that they have available. People are often in fear of being singled out for reporting troublesome activity. However, students should know that their identity can remain unknown, especially on the internet, and do not have to be labeled a tattle-tale for doing so.