"You Telling Me A Cyber Did This Bullying?"

     The human dedication to bullying is almost inspiring- from the Ostracon of ancient Greece to the geek bashing of the 1950s, our species has always found a way to make its general displeasure known to those who fall a few rungs short on the social ladder- and on our present spoke of History's great wheel, the wonders of information technology have opened revolutionary new vectors of harassment.  Now, you aren't even safe in your own home; the harassment lives in your pocket!  Three cheers for progress!

    Irreverent banter aside, digital citizenship and cyberbullying are a constant problem facing the school librarian.  As keeper of the school's technology- and first point of contact for most things digital- we tend to wind up as the authority on matters of proper technology use.  I don't disagree with this, mind you- digital citizenship is a natural offshoot of information literacy- but it does introduce an additional layer of ethical and social considerations to the implementation of technology in schools, and represents a burden that sits firmly on our own shoulders.

    In my own county, I actually helped work on the district-wide Digicit training, part of Richmond County's Power Up initiative.  Taking the form of a Canvas module, Power Up is required training for all students each year, and covers the ins- and outs of laptop use, alongside the responsibilities of a good digital citizen.

    With that in mind, I actually don't tend to go over digital citizenship much with my students, since it's already handled on a district level; that said, this week's readings have shown me that there may be a case to be made for a PL targeting educators, instead.

    The SLJ Censorship Survey (Ishizuka, 2023) highlights the surprising number of school librarians who have run afoul of contemporary angst regarding "inappropriate" books.  To some degree this has always existed- the book burnings of Harry Potter in the early 2000s come to mind- but recent political scapegoating of educators, particularly librarians, as indoctrinators and pornographers has doubtless contributed to the unsettling rise.  With nearly 30% of high school librarians reporting harassment from their communities, it may be time to consider that not only students need a refresher on protecting themselves from cyberbullies.

    To that end, tips like the ones presented in the Read and Save pdf could be particularly useful.  I plan to suggest a PL structured around digital safety to my lead Media Specialist- perhaps for one of our upcoming PL days.  Everyone can use a little refresher from time to time, and too often, it's just assumed that adults are inured to the effects of digital harassment- when in reality, the opposite can be true.

References

Ishizuka, K. (2023). Nearly a quarter of school librarians have experienced harassment over books | SLJ censorship survey. School Library Journal.