What's The Story With Cyber Bullying? Pt 2. Digital Socializing

Part 1 (last week): What’s the story with Cyberbullying? Pt 1 - Different Digital Worlds

In Part One of this series, we discussed some of the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants.  We noted that natives express themselves through their technology and see it as an extension of themselves.  This brings us to a key aspect of digital native life:  Cyber Socializing.

Adults tend to underestimate the importance of cyber-socializing to teenagers.  If we recognize how important technology use is to our teenagers we can help facilitate conversations where they are more likely to confide in us if they have negative experiences.

The commonsense media survey found that only 6% of teens were not using media outside of school. Approximately half of the teens surveyed indicated a preference for using mobile devices.  Our students are highly dependent on the internet for communication, but they are not always knowledgeable about the realities of staying safe online.

Teens use technology to explore and express their evolving identities.  Studies have shown that for many teens, cyber socializing has a positive impact on friendship quality and relationships.  Students are highly concerned that if they do not have access to technology they would be socially isolated.  A primary reason that they do not confide in adults when cyberbullied, is fear that they will lose access to their technology.

Next Up:  Pt. 3:  What Is CyberBullying?