"Growing Up Online" Reflection

This story was chilling but all too familiar in today's technology oriented society. Children are turning to and relying on the internet to confide in people they think they can trust rather than talking about their problems with those closest to them. Children are shutting their parents out due to technology and some are living completely secret lives using the internet. These children are not only being bullied at school, and it continues the second they get home and log onto the internet, sometimes even trying to be someone they are not. The internet is also a place where children can bully others without having to look them in the eye which makes the comments all the more brutal. Technology can also be blamed for a students struggle academically. If the child is being bullied at home on the internet a lot of times they are going to be afraid to come to school or even have too many thoughts running through their mind to concentrate. It is sad that children are turning to the internet to confide in someone rather than talkin to those most important in their lives.

As a future teacher I think it is important to warn the children about bullying and cyber bullying and give them the honest truth using true stories such as the one in the video. It is important for the students to realize the seriousness of it and that it should not be tolerated. I would also tell my students that if they hear of any account where a student is being cyber bullied to tell a teacher or parent immediately so they can take action again the bully. It is important to make students feel comfortable and make sure that any report of bullying will be held completely anonymous if desired. It would also be a smart idea to place a box on every teachers desk where anyone can put a note in reporting bullying or any other statement they would like to keep anonymous. As a future teacher I would make myself available for any student to talk to me openly about anything that is going on in their life so they have someone to talk to rather than depending on the internet to confide in someone. Bullying should not be taken lightly and even the smallest reports of it should be taken seriously and acted upon immediately because one thing can lead to another and sometimes it ends up being too late.