Podcast

I am interested in how to handle cyber bullying in social networks with concern for children and am doing some research for a unit assignment in one of my courses. Some of the ideas I have come across about how adults have reacted to cyber bullying is similar to what Boyd has stated. Adults don’t have the familiarity with the nettalk of social networks; therefore, they do not know how to respond to the harassment. Furthermore, many adults have never experienced this type of bullying and can’t relate to the incidences. So I think this is a critical issue in dealing with bullying. In addition, I don’t think parents know how to teach their children how to act appropriately on the internet because it is such a new media.
For teenagers, I think the anonymity gives them confidence that they can behave in ways they would not in face to face contact. They also say things they would not ordinarily say in front of a person. Being able to falsify a profile helps bullies hide behind a mask that only emboldens them to continue the bullying. It only takes a minute to distribute to hundreds, even thousands, harassing and humiliating messages meant to hurt someone. Without set policies and standards for social networking conduct, parents and educators will have a difficult task of helping students deal with the harassment and stopping the bullies for engaging in this practice.
Boyd makes an important point that educators and parents need to be active participants in social networking to understand what teenagers are communicating to others. I think this form of media allows students to open up and freely talk about their lives. With the growing popularity of social networks, teenagers have many more outlets to make connections, but also to abuse one another. The opportunity to identify problems could be missed if adults are not comfortable with the technology and choose to ignore it.