Poll: Schools stalking students; Does this seem right to you?

[SonicWaffle]

Just how to solve the issue of cyber-bullying is beyond me, however.

You can't solve it, any more than you can solve actual bullying. It's part of childhood, part of nature. The big kids will ALWAYS pick on the little kids, or the different kids.

I hope you're wrong. With all my heart, I really do. I've lost too many friends to bullying.

He's not wrong. There are always going to be degrees of bullying, whether it's mild stuff like name-calling or serious stuff like brutal beatings. That's the nature of children, the whole pack hierachy thing wherein the weak get picked on by the strong. Most people survive, get over it, and get on with their lives. Occasionally you get a case where the victim is weaker than most or the bully harsher, and it ends in suicide, and it's tragic. Unfortunately, that doesn't actually change anything; kids will still be bullied, and they always will. The best you can do for them is to try and teach them to cope with it, because as all of us who have been bullied know, the suggested coping strategies - talking to a teacher, for example - is only going to make the situation worse and cause the bully to seek reprisals.

 

[tharglet]

It's good practice to learn on public networks that you can and probably will be monitored .

My school banned pretty much anything that you could use to send messages on, and had their own mailserver, that everyone knew was monitored. This allowed people to send messages to each other, but ensured they stuck by the rules. (of course the odd idiot got pulled up for something though)

If it was a case of schools effectively being able to be given backdoor access to the accounts it would definitely be wrong, but if it's monitoring communications on their own internet connection, well, it's to be expected imo. Most workplaces and schools have a monitoring policy, and you can always go somewhere else if you don't want your employer/school looking at your content.

There were certain things I used to bookmark and then go browse at home .

If it's a case that the bullying is that of an extent that warrants private account investigation, it would need to be done by the right person. I don't think most school employees would be the right people for the job - it would be better done by someone who doesn't even know the kids, as the private accounts may turf up stuff that really shouldn't be seen by people the kids know. How many teachers are going to go OTT over some spur-of-the-moment insult against them, that was only intended for friends? Could the teacher/staff stay impartial if they read about some personal tragedy that the kid has suffered outside of school?
If someone tried to discuss an issue with my life, where there was only one way of finding out about it, I'd be very pissed about it, even if they were trying to help.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Hypothetical situation: what if he plays violent video games, one of which involves shooting a entire airport of defenceless innocents, then he watches a series of videos involving a enraged foreigner swearing and insulting people for 5 minutes with his own artwork of people getting killed playing in the background... You see what I did there?

Well, so what if he does? There's a world of difference between playing a video game and actually purchasing weaponry or researching bomb-making techniques. OK, yes, the likes of Fox News don't care that there's a difference, but it's blindingly obvious to rational beings that there is. Children purchasing weapons while reading up on school massacres = bad sign, children playing a clearly defined game in which they perform undesirable actions = not so bad. Does a racing game cause adults to drive too fast? Did anyone ever get banned from a zoo for trying to recreate Super Monkey Ball? The hypothetical I gave was of someone giving every sign that they were planning something violent, or at least fantasizing about it. Merely playing a game carries none of these connotations, because even the most stupid of kids understand that what happens in the game is not real.

 

[Dexiro]

I never saw the big issue with cyber bullying anyway, most of the time it's just idiots saying "you're gay". Hacking is a completely different issue.

 

[Squidwogdog]

I got a scholarship to a VERY vain private school. So vain infact that because of the school's proximity to downtown, they pay the man power to actually posistion staff members along routes to the city to check that the students are wearing their uniform correctly. They do monitor facebook accounts by teachers adding you as a friend but I dont think it's as sinister as some might think. Sure one could argue that it's against free speech but the students dont really have many bad things to say about the school

 

[EmzOLV]

Short answer; no.

Long answer; noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Very much this!
I mean, if I don't want people to know what I'm on at work (or if I was at uni/school) I wouldn't go on it. I don't need to go on the internet at these places unless I was using it to research or study.

Is this just the US or the UK as well? Because I'm not entirely sure where the Data Protection Act stands between the internet and the school's use of your personal and private data. In fact, in my very VERY vague knowledge of it, surely even if the had the access to see every students messages - say something happened or was going on, they're not legally allowed to share this information with anyone else unless they gain permission from the student right?!

But I might be wrong.
Either way, I disagree with this scheme - it may only be helpful in stopping students from even bothering to go on social websites at school, but that's the only positive.

 

[Layz92]

As many have said fix bullying and you fix cyber bullying. On the subject of cyber bullying however I must say I have never really understood the victims. You can easily not go on MSN or Facebook etc etc for a few weeks to get a break or simply block the obnoxious people spamming you. I think that level of monitoring is insane unless it is the schools property (they gotta cover their arses against it coming back to them that their hardware was involved in the bullying). Even when that much monitoring happens at school I disagree with it, private accounts should not be monitored (though anyone who isn't a moron would just use a desktop PC or private laptop for home use).

 

[SomeLameStuff]

Simple solution to this: Don't use facebook at school.

Besides, cyber bullying is overblown. I'd rather take cyber bullying than normal bullying any day.

Bullying is bullying. Just because you are reading the abuse doesn't mean its any less effective. Psychological damage is the main component of bullying anyway. Actual physical violence is a small part of what goes on. Threats, anticipated violence, intimidation, humiliation, fear, etc can all easily be communicated and received through the internet.

Actually, reading the abuse IS less effective. What I don't get about cyber bullying is WHY the HECK don't the victims just turn the computer off/Block the offender/Just don't read the damn thing? Its like they WANT to be bullied.

I've gone through both cyber bullying and normal bullying, and cyber bullying doesn't break bones, nor does it put people in the hospital due to blood loss.

 

[Revolutionary]

the worse a problem, generally the worse the solution.

 

[Mullahgrrl]

It's a terrible and flawed solution to a terrible and sickening problem.

Just how to solve the issue of cyber-bullying is beyond me, however.

Suck it up!

 

[HotPocket]

Cyber bullying is a little over hyped from my perspective as the first thing anyone should learn about the internet is to not take people seriously and so I disagree with the school.

 

[Korolev]

This is bad, very bad. Sure cyber-bulling, or bullying in general, is very bad as well, but the right to privacy is too important. Whose to say that the school won't use the information inappropriately - like finding out who has been badmouthing a teacher, and then purposefully lowering their grades? I knew teachers mean enough to do that, given the opportunity.

The Government can't make people be nice to each other. If someone is being genuinely harassed or threatened online, I'm sure they can take it up with the police.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

I got a scholarship to a VERY vain private school. So vain infact that because of the school's proximity to downtown, they pay the man power to actually posistion staff members along routes to the city to check that the students are wearing their uniform correctly. They do monitor facebook accounts by teachers adding you as a friend but I dont think it's as sinister as some might think. Sure one could argue that it's against free speech but the students dont really have many bad things to say about the school

If they forced you to add them to your facebook, you could just block all content going to them
except that they are friends claim that you don't know why its like that......

 

[Wicky_42]

It has recently come to my attention that after a decision to 'crack down' on cyber-bullying my school's authorities have decided to monitor each and every one of students' contributions to anything that can be accessed with a computer and a modem...

Does this also mean that every corridor and room is completely covered by CCTV and audio recording equipment? Otherwise, how can they deal with real world bullying?!!? Do they monitor all the streets that students take to and from school to make sure no-one's getting mugged off premises? What about cameras in students' houses to make sure they do their homework and aren't playing murder simulators?

Yeah, I'm against this. Monitoring what goes through their servers is their privilege, that's all fine and standard, but when they're at home? Then again, I guess this only applies if the kids are using school-issued laptops that log into the school proxy, and if they have their own computer then they're not subject to this spying - yay for discrimination against the poor!

 

[Korolev]

Cyber bullying is more than nasty comments on facebook - it's about spreading rumours anonymously, through the internet. It's about tarnishing someone's reputation behind their backs. It can cause a lot of problems.

I was never bullied at school, mostly because I did my best to blend in like wallpaper. But I saw some bullying in my day (not much, because I went to a private school with very strict rules). It's often the "talking behind someone's back", spreading rumours type bullying that actually hurts people most and has the longest psychological impact.

Remember, it's not about closing down your facebook account - the problem extends to everyone else's. School kids are..... naive at best, downright foolish at worst, and they tend to believe whatever half-baked rumours they read on the internet.