Dealing with Cyberbullies

By Matt Andrews

GRADE LEVELS: 9 - 12
CONTENT AREAS: Choose Your Path

STUDENT PATHS OUTCOME:

2-2: Students develop awareness of their social system of support and constraints, and choose associations and behaviors that align with their values, goals and well-being.

IN THIS LESSON STUDENTS WILL:

  • Consider harmful effects of cyberbullying.
  • Learn facts about cyberbullying—about the depth of the problem and best practices for handling it—from a range of research sources who’ve studied the issue.
  • Reflect on personal experience with or exposure to cyberbullying.
  • Complete a short quiz assessing how much they know and/or understand about the problem of cyberbullying.
  • Participate in large-group discussion about cyberbullying, using teacher-provided answers to a quiz as springboards to commentary and questions.

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS ADDRESSED:

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

ASCA STANDARDS ADDRESSED:

  • C:C2.2 – Learn how to use conflict management skills with peers and adults
  • PS:A1.6 – Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior
  • PS:A1.7 – Recognize personal boundaries, rights and privacy needs
  • PS:A1.8 – Understand the need for self-control and how to practice it
  • PS:A2.1 – Recognize that everyone has rights and responsibilities
  • PS:C1.5 – Differentiate between situations requiring peer support and situations requiring adult professional help

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
No prior knowledge necessary.

MATERIALS:

  • Activity Handout “Introduction to Cybebullying Quiz”
  • Student Paths “Dealing with Cyberbullies” article and sidebar, “Tips to Help Stop Cyberbullying”

LESSON OVERVIEW:
This lesson has four progressive stages:

  1. Introduce cyberbullying with quiz
  2. Discuss cyberbullying with answers to quiz
  3. Read article from Student Paths
  4. Students complete personal reflections

ASSESSMENT:
The quiz will assess students’ prior knowledge of cyberbullying.

LESSON PROCEDURE:

Introduce cyberbullying with quiz (5 minutes):

Distribute the Activity Handout, “Introduction to Cyberbullying Quiz,” and ask students to complete it to the best of their ability.

Use quiz to structure class discussion of cyberbullying (10 minutes):

This quiz and answers are adapted from work of the Cyberbullying Research Center and National Crime Prevention Council.

As a whole class, discuss the answers to the questions on the quiz. Each question has a question and topic for further discussion.

  1. Which of the choices below would count as cyberbullying?
    • ANSWER: E, all of the above
    • DISCUSS: Are there other examples you can think of?
  2. TRUE or FALSE (circle one) - According to current harassment laws, schools are not responsible for any cyberbullying incidents that occur off their campuses.
    • ANSWER: FALSE
    • COMMENT: Because off-campus incidents can cause disruptions and negatively affect the school environment, schools can be considered liable for incidences they know about.
  3. TRUE or FALSE – Boys are less likely to be victims of cyberbullying than girls.
    • ANSWER: TRUE
    • COMMENT: Studies of the problem of cyberbullying actually show girls to be affected more often than boys.
  4. TRUE or FALSE – Most victims of cyberbullying tell an adult (parent, teacher, counselor, etc.) about their experience.
    • ANSWER: FALSE
    • DISCUSS: Why don’t victims want to notify adults? Would you?
  5. Which of the choices below are effective things to do to stop online bullies?
    • ANSWER: E, all of the above
    • COMMENT: When/if you find yourself in this situation, the important thing to do is to separate yourself from the offender and the conflict. All of these are effective ways to do exactly that.
  6. TRUE or FALSE - Though many victims of cyberbullying report suffering from anger, frustration, and/or sadness, cyberbullying never results in physical harm.
    • ANSWER: FALSE
    • DISCUSS: Are you aware of any examples—either personal or from the news, etc.—of cyberbullying incidents that became “real-life” incidents? Share.
  7. What should you do if you are cyberbullied?
    • ANSWER: D, try to take care of it yourself, then tell an adult if it doesn’t work out.
    • DISCUSS: Why might the others not work so well?
  8. TRUE or FALSE – Families who install blocking and filtering software on their computers can stop cyberbullies.
    • ANSWER: FALSE
    • COMMENT: Determined bullies can find their way around rules. Think of all the bullies in school who never get caught. The best defense is for all families to actively monitor their teens’ Internet use.
  9. Eighty-one percent of youth surveyed who admitted to cyberbullying someone named this reason for their behavior.
    • ANSWER: B, they thought it was funny, so they kept doing it.
    • DISCUSS: According to your experience with cyberbullying (if you have any), do you agree that this statistic is accurate? Do you think this is usually what drives the bullies to do what they do?
  10. A significant percentage of teens studied on the topic of cyberbullying said that in their homes they either had no online behavior rules or found their way around the ones their parents had in place. Of the numbers below, which do you believe comes closest to the percentage of students who said they either had no rules or could get around them?
    • ANSWER: E., 80
    • COMMENT: In other words, 4 out of 5 teens are not being watched all that closely at home. If you want to be protected, you may want to make sure your parents are at least a little involved with your online life.

Read Student Paths Article (5 minutes):

Instruct students to read the Student Paths article “Dealing with Cyberbullies” to themselves. Also point their attention to the sidebar, “Tips to Help Stop Cyberbullying.” If time allows, the class may discuss interesting points.

Personal Reflection (5 minutes):

Instruct students to complete the four personal reflection questions at the end of the Activity Handout. If time allows, the class could discuss a few of the answers.

ACTIVITY HANDOUT
Introduction to Cyberbullying Quiz

Take 5 minutes to complete the 10 questions below. Be prepared to comment on these questions and your answers in a large-group discussion to follow. After the discussion you will complete the four personal reflection questions.

  1. Which of the choices below would count as cyberbullying?
    1. sending harassing texts
    2. threatening someone on Facebook
    3. creating mean websites
    4. posting embarrassing pictures of someone without asking them
    5. all of the above
  2. TRUE or FALSE (circle one) - According to current harassment laws, schools are not responsible for any cyberbullying incidents that occur off their campuses.
  3. TRUE or FALSE – Boys are less likely to be victims of cyberbullying than girls.
  4. TRUE or FALSE – Most victims of cyberbullying tell an adult (parent, teacher, counselor, etc.) about their experience.
  5. Which of the choices below are effective things to do to stop online bullies?
    1. block the bully’s messages
    2. tell an adult
    3. sign off from/leave the chat room or IM conversation
    4. ignore the bully
    5. all of the above
  6. TRUE or FALSE - Though many victims of cyberbullying report suffering from anger, frustration, and/or sadness, cyberbullying never results in physical harm.
  7. What should you do if you are cyberbullied?
    1. think that it is your fault
    2. keep it to yourself
    3. skip school to avoid the bullies and others who know
    4. try to take care of it yourself, then tell an adult if it doesn’t work out
    5. fight back
  8. TRUE or FALSE – Families who install blocking and filtering software on their computers can stop cyberbullies.
  9. Eighty-one percent of youth surveyed who admitted to cyberbullying someone named this reason for their behavior.
    1. They wanted to torture the person they were bullying because they hated them.
    2. They thought it was funny, so they kept doing it.
    3. They hoped to become a famous bully someday.
    4. They saw it on TV and wanted to try it for themselves.
  10. A significant percentage of teens studied on the topic of cyberbullying said that in their homes they either had no online behavior rules or found their way around the ones their parents had in place. Of the numbers below, which number comes closest to the percentage of students who said they either had no rules or could get around them?
    1. 20
    2. 50
    3. 65
    4. 80

 

Personal Reflection – Complete these questions after the discussion.

  1. Thinking about the quiz you took to begin this activity, did any of the information you learned surprise you about the problem of cyberbullying? Select one fact that was concerning/interesting/not a surprise at all and explain why you chose it.
  2. Have you had any personal experience with cyberbullying, either as a witness, a bully, or a victim? Briefly describe your personal exposure to this problem.
  3. Would you say it’s worse to be physically bullied or bullied online? Explain your answer.
  4. Based on this exercise, what’s one thing you think must happen to keep students safe?

 

RELATED ARTICLES:
Dealing With Cyberbullies

 

About the Author

Matt Andrews