Week 4.3
iCitizenship Panel 2012 in Review!
For those of you who attended the iCitizenship Town Hall Meeting last night on the SJC campus, I look forward to hearing thoughts about the overly successful meeting of the minds. For those of you who were unable to attend, CPTV will be streaming it next week...I believe. Hopefully, Mike Carbone will let us know!
Overall, the meeting was inspirational and very informative! The mission was to educate parents and teachers on the importance of helping children use technology in a socially responsible way. It was nice to see so many people turn out in support of this cause because it impacts all of our lives not just the youth. I believe these types of meetings should be happening in every town. Not only were there people in attendance but people were skyping in from Alabama and tweeting from all over our country and worldwide. Clearly, this is a global concern!
The panel was very direct in explaining the types of dangers but also the wonderful things that technology can bring to our schools, communities and worldwide. There was a lot of support for integrating technology and social media into our classrooms. One of the key points was that teachers should take chances but continue to use professionalism and mindfulness.
The most meaningful part of the night for me was when one of the panelist, Jo Ann Freiberg explained that getting to the core of this issue is not through the technology or teaching about iCitizenship but truly....teaching about how to be a GOOD, KIND person in a changing (digital) world. It all comes back to having expectations for kids and teaching them about social interactions that are appropriate whether it's in-person or through social media.
I wanted to compliment Kate Morrone and Mike Carbone on your part in pulling this event together! It was truly a beautiful evening. Marialice was her amazingly upbeat and enthusiastic self! She has a way of motivating people to get involved and become part of the solution! I'm happy to know her and look forward to seeing the rest of her accomplishments. I'm sure we all know...she has just begun!
Please read this article about Jo Ann Freiberg, who was a panelist last night but also sits on the National School Climate Council.
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/How-to-create-a-safe-respectful-school-climate-2394926.php
You may also want to scan through the Bill, An Act Concerning the Strengthening of School Bullying Laws.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/ba/2011SB-01138-R000427-BA.htm
And I just to remind us all of why this is such a priority, here is an article about Phoebe Prince, from Massachusetts, and her struggle with cyberbullying and ultimately...her suicide.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-03-29/news/27060348_1_facebook-town-hall-meetings-school-library
Several of the panelists from Thursday night's iCitizenship meeting, spoke to the importance of taking a proactive rather than reactive approach towards all forms of bullying. By creating "safe climate plans," for example, districts can begin to examine the ways in which their schools foster (or don't...) productive and supportive learning communities. As Ms. Freiberg stated in the first article, no child wants to carry the bully label and no school wants to admit that bullying occurs on their grounds. However, we all know what "mean" looks life. The challenging piece of this predicament, then, is differentiating between true bullying and single acts of mean behavior. Yes, there were certainly days that I left elementary school upset as a result of my peers, but I was still able to function in the classroom and maintain friendships. There is certainly a spectrum of what constitutes "bullying"...
ReplyDeleteWhile policymakers continue to revise this loaded term to allow for better clarity, I do not envy the district individual appointed as the Safe School Climate Specialist." Based on the stipulations provided in the Bill, it looks like all acts of bullying reported by students/ teachers/ building professionals must be documented and then evaluated by the committee to determine its legitimacy. It sounds like a long and arduous process, but if it can prevent another child like Phoebe Prince from taking his/her own life, then it's well worth the time spent. Bullying prevention, however, is not a conversation to begin in middle school. As many of the panelists suggested, we must begin a dialogue in preschool about appropriate and respectful behavior. While the classroom is certainly a space for fostering intellectual rigor, it also a forum for teaching our students how to be productive members of a greater community.
-Andrea
As I read the article about Phoebe Prince I was speechless. When I first started to read it seemed like maybe the students that were bullying her were jealous because she dated a senior football player. But, as I kept reading it seemed to me to be so much more than that.
ReplyDeleteI was absolutely disgusted to read that these students KEPT bullying even after she had killed herself. What is going on in this students' heads when they should have started to realize they “messed up” big time. The article called them “mean girls” which I do not think is appropriate. At 23 years old I think of the movie mean girls and really there are no similarities between the two. I was glad to read the community members all signed a petition to get these students in trouble for what they did. The students Cleary did not see anything wrong with what they had done. I was also disgusted at the same time that officials did not do anything right away. I am sorry but there is no way that no adults knew what was going on. I would be interested to see how many people actually ignored it.
I am not sure why but I was a bit shocked to see that the bullying was both through technology and in person, at school. The article did not mention what the school had done about this bullying when this student was still alive. The name of the article had the words cyber bullies in it so I automatically assumed that it was all done on the internet. I think that might be part of the problem. Most schools and parents assume that most if not all bullying is now happening online. Clearly, by reading this article, it’s not. This student was bullied at school; students were slapping books out of her hands and doing other immature acts.
Melissa R.
Melissa, I agree. I too was completely devastated when reading this article. The article did mention that adults in the building saw the bullying taking place and did nothing. This was appalling to me. Especially with all the stories in the news now about teenage suicides due to bullying, it's shocking to learn that in this situation adults SAW what was happening and stood idly aside. I can only help but wonder what might have happened to this girl if even one person had stood up and said something to the kids that were bullying her. It truly only takes one person to make a difference. What might have happened had an adult voiced concern and showed Phoebe they cared about her and what was happening to her in school and at home?
DeleteI am so disappointed that I wasn't able to attend on Thursday night, but I can make a connection to Jo Ann Freiberg. Our staff meetings at my school are more like professional development. Every other Wednesday, our meetings are geared toward something that our school is working on like differentiation, school goals, and school climate. A couple of weeks ago. our staff meeting featured Jo Ann Freiberg. She talked about everything from laws to families. She was such a good speaker! However, it really made an impact at our school and affirmed what a lot of us stand for. She mentioned that you can't call a kid a "bully" because kids and adults never will associate themselves as that. However, it you call a kid on a mean behavior, they immediately understand and register that they shouldn't do that. Since hearing her speak, I make sure I call students on all their behaviors. My school calls them "green dot" or "red dot" behaviors. This seems as if it is a great way for kids to recognize their good and bad behaviors! It's a step in the right direction!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a neat visual your school uses. At the school I work at we have a color system of green, yellow, and red. Also, students whose behaviors lead them to red often have to complete a restorative task to give back to the school community. Not all the students buy into this, but the majority of them do. Also, this school year we moved from recognizing a "student of the week" to noting when students "make a difference." Staff and students fill out a small note card identifying the student or group of students and the difference that was made. These get read aloud during the morning announcements, then get posted in the main school hallway.
Delete~Anna
I like the idea of the color system. I've been in schools that have done this as well. Rather than calling kids bullies, this is a better way to manage their behavior. The children see that they have control over their behavior. The classes that I have been in allow the students to redeem themselves. So if they have a yellow or red clip, they can modify their behavior and earn their green clip back. Sometimes I think that kids don't realize it when they are being mean and insensitive. Bringing their behavior to attention will help them understand their behavior and it's impact on others.
DeleteOne point that stuck out for me from Thursday's discussion was when Dr. Freiberg stated the legislature should be refered to as Positive School Climate vs. Anti-Bullying. Changing the phrasing promotes the growth of schools teaching recognizition between positive vs. negative behaviors.
ReplyDeleteAnna
Anna, I too like that particular comment by Dr. Freiberg. At this point, schools must "attack" bullying from both sides, by taking preventative measures to improve school climate while also dealing with the aftermath of bullying situations.
DeleteThis article about Phoebe Prince truly impacted me as I read it. Recently, at the school where I work, we had a guest speaker who talked to our students about internet safety and he focused a good deal on cyberbullying. He brought up a case in which even after a girl had taken her life due to bullying people were continuing to harass her on an online memorial site. I'm not sure if it was Phoebe Prince he was referring to, which very well may be, but it made me sick to my stomach to think people can actually be so cruel. Any type of bullying is immoral, but a new level of immorality is reached when people continue to do so even after someone has ended her own life as a result of it. I'm not even sure what else to say about this. I guess I just can't believe things like this actually happen.
ReplyDeleteOn a positive note, I'm glad to hear the panel discussion went well. I completely agree that the path to being a good digital citizen starts with being a good and caring individual. The internet should be no exception to being the best person you can be. I've said before that I believe the internet acts as a sort of shield for people and they feel freer to make comments they normally wouldn't make in person. But what you say online you should be able to say in person, too. That is why we should fill our comments (via internet or in person) with positivity and nice things to say to one another. Imagine how much hate we would eliminate in our world if we all took a little more time to be kinder to one another.
Diane,
DeleteI agree when you say that when someone says something online, they should also be able to say it in person.
I posted this video on my blog but I wanted to share it here too. With respect to Phoebe Prince and others like her who end their lives due to bullying and depression, I'm posting the link to a video by Rascal Flatts that tells the story of a young teen who takes his/her life. The song is sad but beautifully written and really touches on some of the issues we have been talking and learning about in this class.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd-2EkA4LgI
This is the link in case anyone wants to watch.
Powerful song! Thank you for sharing! I'm a big fan of Rascal Flatts but have never heard of this song.
DeleteAfter reading the Phoebe Prince article, I was really upset at how the faculty at the school were aware that this was happening and yet did nothing to help this young girl. Did they think other teachers or staff knew about and were "resolving" the problem? Teachers need to speak out and stick up for students when this is seen. Our students look up to us and rely on us to protect them, especially in the school environment.
ReplyDeleteAs was stated in the iCitizenship meeting, we need to continue to teacher our students how to talk and greet each other-simple, everyday social skills that we've grown up with when technology was not so adavanced. Now that everything is digital, it is becoming rare that people meet together in person to discuss something. Now it is done through text, email, facebook, twitter, skype, oovoo etc. Our students have been born into this digital age. Teachers and parents must continue to teach basic social skills at the same time teaching to use various kinds of technology tools in appropriate ways. We need to find a balance.
I had the same reaction after reading the article. As educators, we are mandated reporters to suspicions of abuse and neglect. In such cases, I would deem that the student was both abused and neglected; the verbal and emotional abuse via digital portals and the lack of action by teachers both led directly to the death of that young girl. Now that people have a new more technologically-savvy means of abusing and bullying, teachers and policy makers need to catch up and create new statutes that would require a mandated report or an intervention should anyone become aware of an issue. Just because the bullying happens online does not mean it has not effect in schools or society as a whole. It is our job to protect our students and prepare them for their futures, and this is a clear failure of that mission.
Delete-Chelsea
The Phoebe Prince story is a waste of a life that could have been prevented. I had tears in my eyes reading this story knowing that the adults, who are in an environment that promotes protection of children, did nothing. What does that say about the school system or better yet about them. As a society we need to do something to change this. During the iCitizen meeting, the running theme was to teach each other how to be kind to each other. As teachers this is something we can add into any lesson and into our daily routines. Have your students address each other by name, teach them how to respond to each other in a postive supportive way even if they disagree, say hi to those you walk by, hold the door for stangers. These are simple acts of kindness that we can all set by example. I learned so much from the iCitizen meeting and it opened my eyes to things I need to do to make a change.
ReplyDeleteCT-N covered the program. To view the program again: http://www.ct-n.com/ondemand.asp?search=iCitizen
Fabulous! If you didn't make it to the panel last week, you need to see this! Thanks for letting us know Kate!
DeleteI totally agree that a huge part of digital citizenship is CITIZENSHIP. Students should be caring and empathetic, and parents play a large role in this. We lead by example. Even if parents are not up to date on technology, they can still teach their kids that they need to treat others the same way when they are using technology as they would when they are not using technology.
ReplyDeleteThis is especially important. I think that people, particularly adolescents, are more apt to demonstrate brashness and "honesty" (no matter how nasty) to a computer screen than they would when conversing with someone face-to-face. What startles me even further is that students are even THINKING these things; this really goes to show how important the CITIZEN part of this is, because from the looks of things, citizenship does not seem to be making its way into education as it is--with or without the digital aspect. Before students can become digital citizens, they need to learn how to become respectable citizens first.
Delete-Chelsea
I also agree with Jo Ann's statement. We are starting advisory groups at our high school this week and it is all about changing the culture of our school and trying to get students to care for one another and to appreciate the diverse culture at our school. We are trying to give them a teacher to "go to" when they need someone other than their guidance counselors and also to introduce them to other students that they might not know in order to create a more cohesive unit. we will be meeting 2x a month for 20-30 min. just to get to know each other and to discuss things that are going on at our school. It will be interesting to see what the students think and to see how student centered we can keep this. It really is about how you treat others and how you would like to be treated. It still amazes me why this is so hard to promote when our parents (most of them) have promoted it since we were young. Although we often talk the talk but don't walk the walk. We have to remember to be role models as well and remember that students see how we interact with one another. If we as staff are being "clichey" (sp.??) and don't go out of our way to work with one another and promote a positive climate than why should our students?
ReplyDeleteTina
Tina
Did you post it anywhere online?
ReplyDeleteYES -> It's not private!
NO -> Private!
I definitely liked the remarks that emphasized creating a safe learning environment via technology. It is already teaching 101 that in order for students to reach their maximum potential in the classroom, we need to supply them with a safe learning environment that instills confidence and motivation in students; so why not do this on a digital level? As a matter a fact, as the panalists pointed out, we NEED to be doing this. As the world is becoming more globalized, so is our means of technology. There are more opportunities for exploration, achievement, and danger in this world just as there are online. As educators, it is our job to educate students, parents, schools, and communities about how to best utilize technology in a manner that is safe, while still encouraging a spark of curiosity to further explore the multiple realms of the digital world.
ReplyDelete-Chelsea
Did you post it anywhere online?
ReplyDeleteYES -> It's not private!
NO -> Private!