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School attacks cyber bullying head on

By Kirsty Yuritta

UPPER Ferntree Gully Primary School has been uncovering the hidden face of cyber bullying, and taking the issue to the streets in an awareness-raising campaign to highlight its serious effects.

The school is one of four cluster primary schools – including Ferntree Gully North, Mountain Gate and Wattle View – involved in an Innovations and Excellence submission that was put to Knox School Focused Youth Services for funding to develop a unit around cyber bullying.

The funding allowed cluster teachers to be released for curriculum planning, resources to be purchased and an artist/ marketing expert to be employed. Student representatives and teachers also attended the City of Knox Cyber Safety Forum.

As part of the program, Upper Ferntree Gully also invited Mr Greg Gebhar from Net Alert to conduct an after-school parent forum and staff professional development on the issue.

With the help of Artists in Schools expert Ms Clare Sunderland, Ferntree Gully students developed a cyber safety message that was screenprinted onto their own t-shirts. They also designed posters, badges, fridge magnets, brochures, chants and songs as part of the project.

Students also went on a cyber walk to their local community shopping area to deliver an anti-cyber bullying message and highlight their concerns. The walk was an awareness-raising rally, providing the opportunity for students to talk to people on the streets and to leave their brochures in shops.

Michelle Granland, VELS Level 4 coordinator at Upper Ferntree Gully PS, said it was a great experience for the kids. “People were beeping and waving as we walked along and residents were interested to know what we were doing,” Ms Granland said.

“The students believed that they could really make a difference by informing the community. The unit of study we covered raised their awareness that cyber bullying is out there, but that they have control. We cover bullying so much in our existing curriculum, so it’s important that we cover this sort of bullying too,” said Ms Granland.

Cyber bullying is an ever-increasing issue in our schools and the wider community today, as the virtual world of mobile phones, computers and social networking means that school bullying is no longer confined to the yard, but transcends boundaries into the traditionally safe home environ-ment as well.

Perpetrators are able to hide behind a screen of anonymity, while the effects on sufferers are magnified due to the public nature of the humiliation and the wider audience that can be reached via technology.

This technology allows a fake bravado by students, as the stereotype of a thug with brute strength is no longer true. A survey of 518 female students, aged 11 to 19, conducted by Marilyn Campbell, a Queensland psychologist, showed that of the students who admitted to cyber bullying, only 30 per cent said they also bullied in person, while 70 per cent said they only ever cyber bullied.

Senior Constable Susan Mclean, a cyber safety project officer with Victoria Police, is well aware of statistics like these, and believes that online safety is the number one issue compromising the safety of children in schools at present.

But according to Ms Granland, it’s not all bad news.

“It’s not about saying to students: ‘Don’t use the internet!’ It’s about showing them how to use it safely.”