The Canadian Teachers' Federation is calling on the federal government to take a tougher stand on cyberbullying, and 100 delegates endorsed the move at the group's annual general meeting in Moncton, N.B., yesterday.
Noble said the current legislation doesn't go far enough to address harassment and bullying that's carried out electronically via email, instant messaging and posts on blogs and social networking sites.
The federation says it's a growing problem that affects both students and teachers, and Noble said her group decided to take action after an increasing number of parents and teachers raised the issue.
"Teachers were finding that students would be writing things about them, threats to their physical well-being," Noble said. The harassment makes it harder for teachers to do their job and for students to learn, Noble said, and should be viewed as a serious occupational health and safety issue.
A cyberbullying expert says that's consistent with other major studies, which have found that one-third of children and teens between 10 and 18 have been affected by cyberbullying.
He said social networking sites need to uphold policies which guide what content is allowed on their websites, adding that whether providers enforce those policies is "very hit or miss."
Belsey also said parents need to pay more attention to what their children are doing online and youth need to understand the consequences of their actions on the Web.
Part of the policy also calls for school boards from coast to coast to update their harassment policies to include online behaviour.
Education and Learning, for a Bright Future
1 comment:
Oh boy... look what technology brings to our kids these days
Post a Comment