With the new school year just starting, we thought parents would appreciate some strategies for helping kids deal with the uncomfortable position of being a witness or bystander to bullying/cyberbullying incidents. Dr. Michele Borba, educational psychologis, parenting expert, and author, posted a comprehensive article to her Reality Check blog on how kids can step up [...]

2WebWatchers had the pleasure of participating in “When Cyberbullying Spills Into School,“ a webinar hosted by edweek.org and sponsored by Talk About It Anonymous Communication Service. Presenters included two nationally-recognized experts on bullying: Nancy Willard, executive director, Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use and Barbara-Jane Paris, principal, Canyon Vista Middle School in Austin, Texas. Michelle R. Davis, senior writer, Education Week [...]

Kamala Harris,  attorney general of California, wrote an excellent piece on cyberbullying for San Jose Mercury News. We encourage you to read the article, but if you’re pressed for time, a couple of standout points include: California recently enacted two laws criminalizing certain forms of online impersonation and giving school officials the authority to suspend [...]

One of our favorite sites for current, research-based information on confronting cyberbullying is the Cyberbullying Research Center. We appreciate the commitment Professors Justin Patchin  and Sameer Hinduja have made to providing up-to-date information about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents. Here is a sampling of a few resources you might like to add [...]

On Friday, July 8th, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 746, a bill that will allow schools to suspend students who use social networking sites to bully other students. The bill modifies California’s AB 86 (2008), which gave school administrators the authority to discipline students for bullying others offline or online. The original cyber-bullying law (AB 86) targeted instant messages, text messages [...]

2WebWatchers would like to acknowledge two new resources provided by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).  The first is  Net Cetera – Chatting with Kids about Being Online, available as a free download (PDF) or as a booklet that you can order through OnlineOnguard.gov. Educators and parents can order multiple copies at  bulkorder.ftc.gov. The booklet “covers [...]

What we are experiencing is an epidemic of ineffective bullying prevention educational programs and public service announcements (PSA’s).” Rosalind Wiseman The Huffington Post now features a section on bullying, with some great articles, including What Makes a Good Anti-Bullying PSA? In two 10-point lists, author and educator Rosalind Wiseman sums up both the bad and [...]

The Elk Grove Unified School District, in collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, has selected the winners of the Internet Safety Video Contest.  The video contest is one component of Elk Grove Unified’s Internet Safety Initiative, which involves a three-pronged approach to educate staff, parents and students about cyberbullying, online predator strategies and other online [...]

A recent e-Schools News article on Tips for Reducing Bullying and Cyberbullying addresses so many critical issues and provides such practical tips that we thought you would want it available in a printable format. Please share your thoughts so we can start a  community discussion on best practices for addressing, reducing, and eventually eliminating the [...]

Parents who attend our Internet Safety workshops typically arrive with a good bit of  anxiety about the Internet, particularly around issues of online predators. It is our goal to provide parents with tips for keeping their children safe from others. But we also want to make sure that parents understand the need to monitor how their children are acting [...]