Monday, December 04, 2006

Ms. Reimer-Digital Harassment Reflection

Dear 7th Grade Students:

Please write a paragraph in response to the following post regarding our conversation in advising this week on digital harassment (aka-"Cyber Bullying"). Please include a topic sentence in your paragraph and a summary/conclusion sentence at the end. Your reflection paragraph should contain a minimum of six sentences.

Over our last three meetings I hope you had the time to reflect upon on what it means to be a good digital citizen. Remember to never post private information about you, your friends or your family online. Also, be sure to tell your mom or dad if you are ever in a situation online that doesn't feel right. I enjoyed working with you all and I thank you for your participation in this blog reflection project.

Please reflect on the following post:
What can teachers, students and parents do to help put an end to digital harassment/cyber bullying? Think about your experience in adivising today and the DVD that we watched. For more information on Ryan Halligan and his story, visit the following link: http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/

8 comments:

  1. This is basicly what I think about digital harassment. I really don't know what motevates people to do these things. I know that for some it is just a joke and they don't know what the impact will be on the person they are IMing. But I still think that people should go over all the possibilities of what the person might think about the message and if the message is ment to be humerous that they should mention that somewhere in the message. People need to khnow what can and has happened to people who have been victems of digital harrassment. Also parents should know what their kids say on the computer. They don't need to know everything but they should be aware of when their kids are on-line and who they are talking to. Doing this will help prevent people from harassing others. Not to mention that it might be interesting for parents to walk in on their kids whail IMing if they think that their kids are up to something bad on the computer. This is what I think about digital harassment.

    (this is both writing prompts combined into one paragraph)

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  2. This is what I think about Digital Harassment: I don't get why anyone would do these things to another person. Some people think it's a joke and don't realize that it could drive someone to committ suicide, like Ryan Hannigan. Most people thinks it's easier to bully people on-line too because they don't have to feel bad about how the person looks after they say something mean to them. This way they don't have to be sensitive either since neither can see the other's face. People should really think about how badly what they say will hurt the other person. People like Mr. Hanningan are doing their best to prevent suicide from IMing by edcating people. Kids should let their parents know if they're getting harassed or if they harassed someone else. Making sure that parents know what their kids are doing online will help prevent future problems with digital harassment.

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  3. The best way to stop digital harassment is to not let the internet take over relationships. I don’t IM, nor do I have a cell phone. I have no experience with digital harassment because I only talk to my close friends online. Because I know that they are my friends I give them the benefit of the doubt, I know they like me and aren’t trying to be mean. I don’t know if there is a way to prevent it. Bullying will never go away! However, bullies have no power, because you always can try to stop them. Trust me; I have stopped a couple of bullies. I found that the video was not the most effective way to get the point across to us. I am sorry to say that many of my peers took it as a joke. I wish that we could have had small group discussions in this topic. I have trouble connecting to this because if you are smart, you can avoid unpleasant situations.

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  4. rose feather-I appreciate your honesty about others taking this as a joke. I hope many people did listen to Mr. Halligan's message because I think there are many important lessons to be learned. Your first sentence is a powerful statement.

    larka-I like your suggestion about thinking through the message carefully before sending it out. That is a good message for everyone.

    zenpanda-I'm glad you highlighted the importance of telling a trusted adult if something wrong is going on. That is a good point.

    ~Mr. M.

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  5. Thanks for your thoughtful comments guys. I appreciate the time you put into this. Like Mr. Montagne, I am shocked and horrified by Ryan's story and hope that no student I know ever has those sorts of feelings. Unfortunately I can comprehend such a thing happening and how easy it is to say cruel things without thinking about how they will be taken by others. If I've learned anything over the years about hurting people's feelings it is that you NEVER know how someone is going to interpret your words, so be careful with them.

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  6. I think that digital harassment is a very bad thing that is taking over the lives of younger people in todays society. Children, especially teens, may spend hours on the computer a day, making them much more likley to be subjected to digital harassment. I feel that the main thing that must be done is to spread the word about what is happening on the net and to get people to watch out for it. If this can happen, then once something has been discovered, we can take action and do something about it. If nothing more is done, then what will happen to the rest of the people who are subject to this type of harassment every day????? Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I hope that it fits the needs of what I was suposed ot write about and about what I was suposed to have learned and have learned.

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  7. ginny weasly-I read your post. I'm with you all the way on the importance of spreading the word and raising awareness about digital bullying. In a way we're raising awareness at this blog by writing about it.

    Thanks,
    ~Mr. M.

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  8. I think parents should montior their child when they are on the computer. Parents should get more invovled in their childs life. That would help a lot if parents watched their child. Then they can see what their child be on, who they talk to, and etc. Teachers can watch more when in the hallways and in class. That will help lots of children and their families.

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