Back
 

Cyber Bullying: Strategies for Balance and Safety

Cyber Bullying: Strategies for Balance and Safety

Over the last couple of decades, the world around us changed drastically. Virtually everyone on Earth can now connect through the advent of the Internet and the ubiquity of computers, tablets, and mobile devices. However, this technological revolution came an array of unforeseen problems. One of these problems—cyberbullying—has grown to become a severe dilemma for our nation’s school-aged children. That issue has become so prevalent that the U.S. government launched the Stop Cyberbullying initiative to help address matters.

Cyberbullying is unlike physical bullying and, in many ways, can be more detrimental and have longer-lasting ramifications. It can take many forms and occur across multiple platforms, sometimes leaving behind a digital record that’s almost impossible to erase. From public social media posts on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, to private texts, emails, and Snapchat, there are unlimited ways children can be bullied anytime and anywhere they have access to a device.

Often going unseen by parents and teachers, this new type of bullying can go on for long periods, profoundly impacting the child victim’s mental well-being, causing anxiety, and possibly shattering self-esteem. Victims may also suffer from fear of potential exposure or public embarrassment, thus enabling their bully to persist in harassing behavior. To raise awareness of this epidemic, while offering proven practical solutions, Professional Development Courses at the University of La Verne created Cyber Bullying: Strategies for Balance and Safety.

 

Why Does Learning about Cyber Bullying Matter?

Like any other bullying, cyberbullying can affect students’ ability to feel comfortable in class, thus disrupting their ability to focus and learn. To an untrained eye, such behavior can present as something other than what it truly is. For example, a teacher may mistake a student’s anxiety for misconduct or disinterest if they are not paying attention to a lecture or are not doing their assignments. All too quickly, students who are victims of cyberbullying can see their grades fall, adding to their stress and creating a downward spiral even as they continue to be antagonized by the person or people bullying them.

That is why this course was made specifically for teachers, administrators, and school counselors who come into contact with students regularly. Children of the modern era have grown up “online,” with devices at their fingertips. These “cyber kids” often experience a suppressed ability to interact directly with their teachers and other school staff. They can feel as if the online world is more familiar to them, even if it is less comfortable due to the bullying they are experiencing. Cyber Bullying: Strategies for Balance and Safety offers ways you can help provide “cyber balance” for these students, especially when they struggle with technology addiction in a culture that has not always provided them with sufficient interpersonal skills.

Relying on research from experts and education counselors, this crucial course from Professional Development Courses at the University of La Verne includes student assessment tools, real-world incident report examples, school evaluations, and legal guidelines all teachers should know. It also offers invaluable tools to help you recognize, assess, and intervene with cyberbullying, and how to take proactive prevention measures to help mitigate future occurrences, no matter where or how they might occur.

Naturally, the most effective way to beat cyberbullying is to get the students themselves involved. That’s why our course even features a treasure trove of techniques, materials, and engaging activities that can be incorporated into your tech-savvy classroom right away. Bringing students into the process will help them understand cyberbullying and cyber balance choices. The materials and activities, meanwhile, offer innovative ways to explore putting that technology to work as an educational tool. Used judiciously, modern software, gadgets, and apps can significantly boost learning among students who have gotten used to using it for leisure activities.

 

Objectives for Cyber Bullying: Strategies for Balance and Safety

Cyber Bullying: Strategies for Balance and Safety, offered through Professional Development Courses at the University of La Verne, features a wealth of modern techniques to empower teachers with skills to stop bullying, increase safety, and help students restore balance in their use of devices. Content is offered in an easy-to-understand format using real-life stories, which dramatically illustrate the dangers—and the potential benefits—of wired culture in and out of the classroom.

Course content is highly practical and completed at your own pace. A few of the topics and readings include:

• Defining “cyber kids” in the 21st century
  • “Lost in Cyberspace,” on technology and travel
  • “It’s a Small World After All,” a crucial reading on technology uses and misuses
• An in-depth look at cyberbullying—what it means, what it does, and what you can do about it
  • “Sticks and Stones,” an overview of cyberbullying
  • “If You Can’t Say Anything Nice,” vehicles of cyberbullying
  • “Houston, We Have a Problem,” and responding to cyberbullying
• Defining “cyber balance” and its role in defeating cyberbullying
  • “What’s Up, Doc?”, a valuable assessment tool
  • “This One Is Just Right,” a text on interventions to restore balance
  • “An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure,” a look at our roles in cyber balance
• Warm-Ups, Activities, and Lesson Reviews

Additional contents include the benefits of mentoring, expert advice for newer teachers, characteristics of top educators, and much more!

This course counts towards the University of La Verne’s 15-credit certificate in School Culture and Violence. Additional related courses include:

• Adolescent Psychology: Current Research
• Bullying
• Child Behavior Disorders
• Curbing School Violence
• Drugs: Licit and Illicit
• Female Gangs
• Suicide, Self Injury, and School Violence Prevention

 

How to Register

Cyber Bullying: Strategies for Balance and Safety is a three-semester credit course offered in an online or emailed PDF format from Professional Development Courses at the University of La Verne. Like all of our courses, it is open for anyone to register at any time during a semester.

Registration is simple to complete, and it can be done online or over the phone. Courses are offered ongoing during three semesters, and you can start whenever you are ready! Students may choose to enroll in up to a maximum of 15-semester credits at any time during each semester.

 

Fall: September 1 - January 31

Spring: February 1 - May 31

Summer: June 1 - August 31

 

Students earn graduate, non-degree semester credit, reflected on an official university transcript. Ready to update your toolkit of cyberbullying prevention strategies? Register today to get started!