Sweet As Social Media Charitable Trust
& Volume 1, Issue 1 | May, 2011
| Working in conjunction with AssistNZ Ltd
Cyber Bullying.. could it be the elephant in New Zealand’s classroom’s?? With recent news headlines regularly covering the topic of bullying in schools and among youth, it is surprising we do not address the issue of ―cyber-bullying‖ at all really, at least among media anyway… Ongoing reports have emphasized and reinforced this apparent ignorance , especially on the behalves of many parents. One report stated that something like 91% of kids, under the age of 18, had at some point or another been the victim of ―cyber bullying‖,. Yet shockingly, only 11% of parents reported to have ever heard the term… In this day and age, it is not enough for a parent to ignore or avoid conversations about be“Bullied kids need to know that bullies are cowards & that what goes around, comes around.“ Deborah Coddington, NZ Herald (10.4.11)
havior online when it comes to their kids.. And we need to remember, more than technology– what we are really talking about boils down to be just another way to kids & adults alike to communicate.
WHAT IS CYBER BULLYING? Cyber Bullying is not unlike normal bullying, yet instead of occurring just in person, technologies & websites can now facilitate bullying from a distance for some kids. Technology now means that bullying not only occurs in the playground but after school and even sometimes into the bedroom with the child being victimized. WHAT MAKES CYBER BULLYING ANY DIFFERENT? There are a number of reasons which seem to make the context of Cyber Bullying much more concerning than traditional concepts of bullies. Cyber bullying is hard to escape, it
“In 2007, 1 in 5 Kiwi High School Students reported to being cyber bullied” - Netsafe, Guide
can also be anonymous & impersonal and bullies don't have to directly experience the pain inflicted on their victim. The virtual invasion of the home and spread of the targeting that these technologies allow is also significantly concerning. Often outside of legal bounds & difficult for the schools to manage, the ubiquitous nature of these medias means that the refuge of ones bedroom even, is no longer safe for kids today. Worst still, what appears to be the most commonly reported concern by many, particularly those involved with the school, is the obliviousness of the parents about these issues in many cases.
“Awareness & Education are the key preventions to cyber bullying”
Plan of Attack:
Launch a viral YouTube campaign, where by we get NZ celebrities and public both to be recording themselves read script, edit the collection into several advertising campaigns for radio & television and then pressure the media agency to provide air time while still pushing the message on social media streams - ―Stop, Think & Click‖
Facilitate a workshop for parents around Auckland, starting first at our local community venue in Massey, we have a series of workshops planned around Auckland to build the awareness & confidence of parents & caregivers. Titled, ―Parenting in a Digital World: Kids & Social Media‖, our two hour workshop aims to shift the focus & perception of parents from the technology to the fact its just a new way that their kids are talking.
Standardizing and distributing workshops & course resources online is important to our objectives of all participants ―Paying Forward‖ the lessons & message from our workshops with them. Further more in-depth training may be done online by participants if they wish.
Provide and promote support & ―community‖ online where those isolated by bullying or struggling with other ―digital issues‖ have some where they can turn to and a forum for them to ask questions without concern. Move will be to create self sustaining subsets of this.
Bullying.org
Parenting in a Digital World: Kids & Social Community courses will commence this month, with the first scheduled to be held on the 19th of May from 6.30pm—8.30pm at Massey Community House, 385 Don Buck Rd. Tickets are priced at $25pp. We operate on a ―Pay It Forward‖ system, we aim to provide participants not only materials through collaborate with local & na-
tional providers of similar, related or relevant organizations & groups, such as NetSafe & ―Cool Schools‖. In the courses we provide a brief overview of the technologies & assess the level of confidence & experience of the parents on each course, before exploring the common risks and best
strategies for monitoring them in respectful & appropriate ways.. Finishing off as a group activity, the class draws up a potential ―template‖ for appropriate House Rules in regards to their family & household’s conduct online. See more in Graphic over page or see http://sweetasparents.tumblr.com
IN THE PIPELINES.. Another important and difficult issue we recognize and hope to tackle in the community is the issue of the ―Digital Divide‖.
Starting with our focus on kids.. In our experience, the party most confused and at a loss with handling these technologies generally tend to be the current parents of teenagers.. And could you blame them? Teenagers are currently those who both use these technologies most, but also making a viral YouTube campaign, we hope to get a representative and varied splice of the New Zealand "public" to & use their versions
of the recording. Once a collection has formed, we will compile a number of different edits and cuts, as well as a few voice only versions for radio. The details are yet to finalised, however we are projecting that we will require three different 30 second cuts of both video (for TV & YouTube) & audio only (for radio) in order to distribute across main stream media channels.
Helping Kiwi’s Navigate the Digital Migration OPEN: 10am—6pm Mon-Fri
sweetas@assistnz.com PO Box 79042, R o ya l H e i g h t s , Wa i t a k e r e 0 6 5 6 PH: 09 832 3188