Have you been constantly noticing fluctuating behavioral changes in your student? If they are reluctant to go to school or attend online classes, it might be due to cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying and malicious Internet activities have increased over the past few years, and the pandemic has only fuelled it. Even with the best software for online teaching, students can face several instances where abusive language is not hindered. Considerably, schools cannot come up with the best app to teach online where the features areas such that students can have the opportunity to avoid cyberbullying. This is mostly because the pandemic has forced most colleges and schools to bring in applications of teaching online, and in the process of creating such websites and systems, they have focused only on priority based things such as making allocations for teaching online through live classes, video calls, and much more.
Recognizing means of cyberbullying
To stop your student from getting bullied, you have to understand the source. Not every child is upfront with their behaviors, sometimes they would rather hide the fact that they are being bullied out of their embarrassment and image.
Hence, the task of a teacher gets even more complicated. Here are a few places that you can refer to first, to understand where your students are being bullied.
- Social media
Social media websites are currently very out of control. The Internet has become such a place that people continue to say abusive things with no control. Although some social media sites have made a lot of effort into protecting individuals from getting bullied, the best software for online teaching might not have similar features.
- Learning management system features
A Learning management system is an essential feature of one of the best apps to teach online. Here, teachers can upload recorded forms of live classes, assignments, handwritten as well as typed in not scum, and much more. students can even refer to chat rooms meant for group discussions among students. Sometimes there are chat rooms that do not include teachers, simply so that informal conversations can be promoted among students. This is meant for socializing purposes only.
However, some students abuse this chatroom. Towards such instances in the school or college learning management system itself, every chatroom must have a moderator. If the application lacks such features, teachers can be present in all groups to overlook conversations.
- Live classes
This is where the definition of cyberbullying gets a little complicated. First, we must understand what bullying means, it is simply the act of aggression from one student towards another, in any form, leading to serious consequences. When teachers are not paying attention in a class or have lived for a break, classmates can gang up and bully a child. Although this is not very practical children aged 7 to 17 have been known to take multiple risks and go beyond limits to bully a person out of simple spite.
How to avoid cyberbullying
- Introduce moral values in a class
Prevention is better than cure, teachers can promote positive environments in the class by introducing stories related to moral concepts and values. Talking nicely to your students and making them understand the words of an individual, and the side effects of bullying might prevent them from doing it. Although it can be deemed done effective in the short run, if schools and colleges continue to impose strict punishments on bullying, including cyberbullying, some students who don’t care about moral values can also retract from their path, afraid of consequences.
- Talk to them
If you feel like something is out of the ordinary, talk to your students. Being friendly with them from the first day, and also respectful at the same time, allows you to gain their trust. This way they come up to you themselves whenever they are subjected to cyberbullying, or any other trouble in general.
- Monitor online activities
To a certain level, you can impose restrictions on the online activities of your students, including the ones in a learning management system.
Cyberbullying is a crime in some states, and if it leads to a serious consequence it can destroy more than multiple lives of various students involved in cyberbullying on both sides. Spread awareness, and allow your students to safeguard themselves from it.
