Keeping It Real Curriculum

This curriculum was developed by Erin Mishkin as part of her coursework in her Masters of Education program. Feel free to use it, make additions, improvements, etc.

Overview Message to the Teacher

So just when you thought you had enough to deal with in controlling the bullying incidents that occur in the halls or on the playground, technology has given rise to a new form of bullying—one that allows bullies to pursue their targets wherever they go and at any time of the day or night. Known as “cyber bullying,” this type of harassment involves using electronic mediums such as email, text messaging, websites, chat rooms, instant messaging, or pagers to intentionally harm others. And it’s more prevalent than you might think. A recent survey of close to 4,000 middle school-aged children reported that 25% of girls and 11% of boys claim to have been electronically bullied at least once within two months, with 77.5% of girls and 61% of boys bullied through instant messaging.

Though cyber bullying almost always takes place away from school grounds, the effects inevitably carry over into the next school day. Keeping It Real: A Cyber Bullying Prevention Program is a 5-week unit on cyber bullying for middle school students that educates and heightens awareness about the dangers of cyber bullying. The intervention has multiple purposes, with two main goals: 1) to prevent bullying behavior before it starts; and 2) to give students the tools for dealing with incidents of bullying if it does occur. Through a series of activities and discussions facilitated by you, students will be able to: 1) develop their ability to take on multiple perspectives; 2) make important connections between cyber space and the “real world”; 3) increase their ability to control their impulses and think through their decisions; and 4) enhance their understanding of how to behave responsibly and with empathy in an online setting.

(See Understanding Goals section for a further explanation of these aims.) In addition, Keeping It Real enables students to strengthen valuable skills such as conflict resolution, anger management, decision-making, and the ability to think critically—skills that can be transferred into areas of their everyday lives.

Keeping It Real serves an important role for educating students about the dangers of cyber bullying, where to go for help, and how to deal with situations that may arise; most importantly, this program teaches kids that their actions have implications in a real world setting and that they should consider that somewhere a real person is sitting on the other side of a computer screen, reading their messages.

Technology

An important aspect of this project is that it includes activities that use the same electronic mediums that are the focus of the intervention (instant messaging, blogs, etc.). This will serve to educate students in the appropriate context while at the same time engaging them and reinforcing the idea that technology can be a positive learning tool if used properly. If your school does not have access to computers or an Internet connection (or both!), this might not be the best curriculum choice for you, though you could certainly alter many of these lesson plans to discuss these issues without the use of technology.

The Class Blog
These days, “blogs” or “web logs,” are a ubiquitous form of communication and expression, with bloggers being everyone from proud mothers and fathers to arms control analysts. Chances are, many of your students are already familiar with blogs—-either because they write one or because their friends do.

Because of the nature of this program, we encourage you to establish and maintain a class blog as an integral part of the course. The blog will not only give your students a “safe space” to put into practice appropriate online behavior, but it will also serve as a means of reflection for the students about the content of the course. And finally, it will give your students a way to give feedback to both their peers and to you, the teacher, about what they are learning and how the course is going.

As the facilitator of the program, you should make clear from the very beginning your expectations for your students’ blog participation. We recommend that you have at least one required blog posting per week (prompts are included in the lesson plans, but you could also assign a student to come up with the blog discussion topic); you might want to get them in the habit of posting and then replying to each others’ posts after each session. The blog will be a natural way for you to check in and assess your students’ level of learning and involvement without your students feeling as if they are being “tested.”

If you really want to go the extra mile, we encourage you to also post to the blog, documenting what you are learning from the students. This will reinforce the idea that you are learning along with your students, hopefully giving them a feeling of responsibility for their course participation. Later, your reflections will assist the students as they develop their awareness campaign for the adults in the community.

You might be wondering how to set up a blog or whether this space will be public, meaning that it can be viewed to folks outside of your class. There are a number of free blogging programs available online (see appendix for a list), and many of them can be set up to be closed to a certain group of people and also to be moderated. We encourage you to make sure it is a private, password-protected blog in order to foster an atmosphere of safety. You could also set up the blogs so that you don't allow anonymous comments. Check the blog's privacy settings for the options that work best for your class.

Awareness Campaign

The culminating project for this course is developing awareness campaigns for peers and adults about cyber bullying. Students will get to choose the format for the campaign and will spend the last several sessions designing, researching, and completing the campaign to reflect what they have learned in the class. Not only will this campaign reflect what they have learned, but it will also serve to strengthen their understanding of this complicated topic. The time needed to implement this campaign is not included in the five-week plan, and will probably require an additional few sessions depending on the format/content of the campaign.

Possible Challenges

Cyber bullying and bullying, in general, is a difficult topic to broach with students. Students may feel embarrassed about these experiences, feel like they are the only ones grappling with something like this, or not fully understand the ramifications of their actions. For this reason, it is important to establish a trusting and nurturing learning environment where students feel comfortable sharing their experiences with one another. The beginning lessons keep this goal in mind and help foster this trusting learning environment.

Not only may you find it challenging to establish a comfortable environment, but you must also keep in mind that inappropriate language or scenarios may come up in discussions (such as sexual references, derogatory remarks, or profanity). Therefore, it is absolutely essential that an environment of trust is established very early on and also that the class decides together what the norms should be for discussing potentially controversial topics. It is also important to assure the students that, because they are dealing with a difficult subject matter, it is okay to not speak in class if they do not feel comfortable (something that the class norms will take into consideration at the beginning of the program, but should be revisited every session).

In addition, it’s also important that you emphasize to the students that no one is being singled out as a bully or a target, but that the class, together, will be exploring these roles in a number of ways. Again, making this clear from the beginning will foster a learning environment that will encourage meaningful exchanges.

Students may also not grasp the idea that what happens in an online setting has implications in “the real world” (see the appendix for more information about this concept). To ground this class in real-life experiences, many of the lessons incorporate true stories about cyber bullying incidents, though you may choose to use other relevant examples.

Understanding Goals

After completing the 5-week cyber bullying prevention program, students will have demonstrated the following understanding goals (each of these goals corresponds to one or more lesson plans):

• Students will be able to identify how cyber bullying is different from traditional bullying.
• Students will be able to identify and then demonstrate appropriate online behavior (or “netiquette”).
• Students will develop an understanding of the implications of cyber bullying and, more broadly, how their actions can impact others. Related to this goal, students will demonstrate a keen understanding of how cyberspace and the “real world” intersect.
• Students will be able to better deal with conflict, know who to go to for help, and how to document harassment.
• Students will become more aware of and sensitive to others’ perspectives (both “bullies” and “targets”), which will benefit them throughout their personal lives and school experiences.
• Students will be able to educate their peers about the dangers of cyber bullying, which (among other things) will strengthen their critical thinking, literacy, and public speaking skills.
• Students will learn strategies to control their impulses by employing critical thinking skills (leading to responsible decision making).

Lesson One: Introduction and Exploring Online Experiences, Habits

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objectives:

• Students will do a series of activities to build trust and community within the classroom.
• Students will share online experiences with their peers and teacher and understand the positive and negative possibilities inherent in using the Internet.
• Students will work together to develop a list of class norms that will be posted on the class blog.

Resources:

• Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk)
• Note cards
• Individual computer work stations (at least 1 to every 2 kids) with Internet connection
• Blog software (available free online—see appendix)

Pssst—Keep In Mind… Because of the sensitive nature of the topic of cyber bullying, the first session will focus on establishing an atmosphere of trust and openness among the group. In addition, students will share their experiences with going online and the teacher will emphasize that there are both positive and negative possibilities with using the Internet. Now is a great opportunity to emphasize to your students that they are the experts about this online stuff, and that you will be learning from and depending on them to help you understand this topic. (ex, “In order to be able to run this class better, you guys need to give me a context ….”) If you have decided to keep a blog as well, let them know that you will be doing the assignments alongside with them and keeping track of new insights as a result of their participation.

Activities - Suggested Procedure:

1. Tell the students that the class will be spending the next several weeks talking about a topic that should be of great interest to them, cyber bullying.

2. Ask them to take a moment to jot down on a note card how much time they spend a day online. What activities do they engage in? What do they like about going online? Dislike? Have them turn to the person next to them and discuss before opening up discussion to the whole class.

3. Ask them about the difference between cyber space and the “real world” (one is virtual, can remain anonymous, no need for physical space, etc.); ask for the similarities (one must behave the same in both—same expectations for behavior, but, like in the real world, sometimes harassment online happens).

4. Explore positive benefits of going online (finding information fast, keeping in touch with friends and family). Talk about what it means to feel “safe” in an online space (ask students to name sites they go where they feel safe and why they feel that way).

5. Before launching into the whole class discussion about cyber bullying, emphasize their responsibility for helping you understand the context (the online world).

6. Ask if they have ideas of what cyber bullying is and facilitate discussion about their views, writing their ideas down on the chalk board or a flip chart.

7. After taking down their opinions, give a brief summary of cyber bullying, explaining that you will be going into it in greater depth over the next several weeks. (For definitions and additional resources, see appendix.) Explain that cyber bullying can include harassment via text messages, but that this course will be focusing primarily on the Internet (though the same strategies can be used against text bullying as well).

8. Explain the goals of the program (see “Message” on p. 1 that outlines these goals), the general format, the awareness campaign, and the use of technology in the class. Explain that you all will have a class blog, which you expect the students to contribute to at least twice a week as part of their homework assignments. Also be sure to make clear that this blog will be private and only open to you and their fellow classmates. (You should have the blog already set up, with step-by-step written instructions for each student on how to access it, create a profile, etc.)

9. Tell the students that two students a week will pose a question to the class that is related to the week’s activities that they will have to respond to through the blog, or if they feel more comfortable, private journals (that will be shared with the teacher, but not their peers).

10. Show the class the blog and tell them their first homework assignment will be to create their profile, which they will then share with the rest of the class the next time they meet. Encourage them to personalize it as much as possible to reflect their personality.

11. Spend the remainder of the class discussing that it is important that the students consider the class to be a safe space—one where they can feel comfortable talking about their experiences and sometimes difficult subject matters. Tell them that sometimes that means it is okay for students to choose not to verbally contribute if they don’t feel comfortable.

12. Ask the students to come up with guidelines (stay away from the word, “rules”—see “additional information about bullying” in appendix for rationale) for how the class should go and give an example (like “listen when someone is speaking”). Let the class know that these guidelines will go on the class blog and that they will review them before each session and that they may change them as they go along if they don’t seem to be working or if more need to be added.

13. Ask the students if they have any questions before the next class. And encourage them to have fun with the homework assignment.

Homework assignment: Have your students create their blog profile, which they will then share with the rest of the class the next time they meet. Encourage them to personalize it as much as possible to reflect their personality. (Try to come up with written instructions for them depending on which blog you chose to use.)

Lesson Two: What Is Cyber Bullying? Debriefing and Debunking

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objective:

• Students will be able to identify how cyber bullying is different from and similar to traditional bullying.

Resources:

• Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk)
• Paper

Connecting Back to Previous Class:

1. Ask the students whether they had any trouble composing their online profiles for the class blog or if they had any trouble with the blog in general.

2. Ask for volunteers to share their profiles (if no one volunteers at first, offer to share yours first). Encourage students to ask questions of each other, noticing how their profiles are alike or different. “What do you notice? Are these profiles more similar? Or more different? How?” Ask them if they learned anything new about their classmates.

3. Ask them whether knowing that this was a closed blog (meaning, only accessible to their classmates and you) changed the nature of their profiles. If yes, “how?” If no, push them a little further and ask how their profiles would look if they knew their parents were reading them.

Main Activities - Suggested Procedures

Activity 1:

1. After sharing the blog profiles, tell the students that today you will be talking more specifically about cyber bullying and how it differs from and is similar to traditional bullying (remind students of the definitions they came up with last class—you might want to put these in the blog and then project the list on a screen for the class to reference).

2. Ask the students to jot down quick definitions for both cyber bullying and traditional bullying, and tell them that this is for their benefit only (you will not be collecting them). Give them a few minutes to do this.

3. When they are done, ask them to get into two groups of three (or divide them up however you want). Tell them you are going to give them an example of a cyber bullying incident and you want them to come up with a similar traditional bullying incident. [This will require them to extract the principles of cyber bullying and apply them to a real-life context.] They should be encouraged to confer in their group before volunteering an answer for the rest of the class. Some true life examples (taken from http://cyberbully.org/docs/cbctparents.pdf):

a. Joanne saw some girls bullying Jessica at school and reported the bullying to the office. By the time Joanne got home from school she had 35 angry messages in her email box and even more angry text-messages on her cell phone. Most of the messages are anonymous. Now, on a daily basis, Joanne gets many email and text messages using vulgar and insulting language. [Possible equivalent: A screaming match at school, face-to-face, followed by angry handwritten notes or complete ostracizing.]

b. Sue was really angry at Kelsey, who she thought stole her boyfriend. Sue convinced Marilyn to post anonymous comments on a school-related discussion board slamming Kelsey. Marilyn was eager to win Sue’s approval and fit into her group of friends, so she did as Sue requested. [Possible equivalent: Getting someone to ignore or tease another person in front of others.]

c. Amy and Cheryl chatted online about their crushes, and the next day Amy printed out the IM transcript and passed it out to everyone at school without Cheryl’s permission. [Possible equivalent: sharing handwritten notes or telling someone’s secrets.]

4. Facilitate a discussion about the similarities and differences in their examples. This is where you might want to discuss the role of the bystander—how does a bystander contribute to bullying? How can a bystander help prevent bullying from happening? What’s the equivalent of a bystander in an online world? (Someone who reads disparaging remarks, but doesn’t stand up for the person being bullied, etc.)

Bullying and cyberbullying equivalents (taken from Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats):

• Physical bullying—no online equivalent.
• Direct verbal bullying—flaming, harassment, and cyberstalking. (See glossary.)
• Indirect relational aggression—outing and trickery, exclusion, impersonation, and cyberstalking.

(See appendix for a more detailed description of ways that cyber bullying is different and similar to traditional bullying.)

Activity 2: 1. Hand out sheets of paper to each student and ask them to listen to a story of a real cyber bullying incident. Tell them that when you are done reading the story, they will be asked to draw or write a description of what came to mind when picturing the bully and the target. See the following sites for samples of true stories and determine what is appropriate to share with your group: http://www.isafe.org/imgs/pdf/education/bonus/TrueStoriesApril2006.pdf http://cyberbully.org/docs/cbctparents.pdf

2. Ask the students to get in small groups and talk about what they drew or wrote about.

3. Facilitate a larger group discussion about the stereotypes that might exist in their minds about bullies and targets. Read another story (one that clearly counters these stereotypes) and then ask them what was different, whether they believed this story, what they noticed. [See David Knight’s story within this curriculum for a link to an article that includes pictures of expected bullies.]

Lesson Three: “It’s Just Online…”: Showing How Cyber and Real Worlds Intersect (part one)

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objectives:

• Students will demonstrate a keen understanding of how cyberspace and the “real world” intersect.

• Students will develop an understanding of the implications of cyber bullying and, more broadly, how their actions can impact others.

• Students will become more aware of and sensitive to others’ perspectives (both “bullies” and “targets”), which will benefit them throughout their personal lives and school experiences.

Resources:

• Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk)

Pssst—Keep In Mind…
Students might have a difficult time taking on the perspective of a bully. Ask them to pay particular attention to the story of David Knight and the classmate featured in the story who admits to bullying her friend.

Connecting to Previous Class: Ask students to share what they noticed during their last homework assignment. Write these observations up on the board. Ask students to talk about how they felt when encountering these instances.

Main Activities - Suggested Procedure:

Activity: 1. Distribute the David Knight story handout and ask the students to read silently, paying attention to how the online events impact David’s “real life.”

2. Tell them to write down the different emotions that are discussed throughout the story that the various players involved felt (David, the students at the school, his mother, the self-defined bully featured in the story). Let the students know that they will be discussing the story in small groups.

3. In small groups, have students talk about what stood out for them in reading the story. Any surprises? What ways did this online harassment impact David’s real life? Ask the students to record their answers in lists to be posted on the wall, which will be shared with the whole class. Have each group present their insights and then lead a discussion on what they shared.

4. Ask students for suggestions on how to deal with cyber bullying. Note David’s thought… that it’s not reasonable for students to cut off their online activity in order to feel safe. Keeping this in mind, what are some strategies (see toolkit handout)?

5. At the end of class, invite the students to pose various “puzzles” that arose for them as a result of the day’s activities [something I’m borrowing from Daniel Wilson’s fantastic group learning course structure]. Write these on the board and tell students to spend some time talking to whoever’s puzzle resonated with them. (If there is a student whose puzzle did not generate interest from the rest of the class, talk to them about their puzzle.)

6. Also, ask the students to bring their AOL IM name with them to class and if it’s one that the rest of their classmates know, encourage them to sign up for a new username. Let them know that they should not share this screen name with anyone else in the class because the activity depends on the screen names remaining anonymous.

Homework assignment: Tell your students to reflect about a time when they experienced or witnessed an incident of cyber bullying (as a bystander, target, or bully). Let them know that this will not be shared with the rest of the class, that it will be for your eyes only. What were they feeling? Anger? Sadness? Frustration? Scared? After writing about the initial incident, ask them to try to rewrite that experience from another perspective (a parent’s, a bystander, etc.). Answer the same question: What feelings did they assume this person experienced? Why? [Though I have included instructions for writing an essay or reflection piece, let students know that this assignment can be in whatever format they choose—short story, painting, audio story, etc. **If you are unsure how you would assess these different mediums, by all means, stick with what you are comfortable with! These are just guidelines.]

HANDOUT

Keeping It Real: David Knight’s Story Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bullying/cyber_bullying.html [excerpts taken from this source. Access this link for the full article.]

David Knight's life at school has been intolerable. He was teased, taunted and punched for years. But the final blow was the humiliation he suffered every time he logged onto the internet. Someone had set up an abusive website about him that made life unbearable.

"Rather than just some people, say 30 in a cafeteria, hearing them all yell insults at you, it's up there for 6 billion people to see. Anyone with a computer can see it," says David. "And you can't get away from it. It doesn't go away when you come home from school. It made me feel even more trapped."

He felt so trapped he decided to leave school and finish his final year of studies at home.

In David's case, the website about him had been active for several months before a classmate told him about it.

"A kid from school sent me a message on the internet saying, 'Hey Dave, look at this website,'" says David. "I went there and sure enough there's my photo on this website saying 'Welcome to the website that makes fun of Dave Knight' and just pages of hateful comments directed at me and everyone in my family."

Whoever created the website asked others to join in, posting lewd, sexual comments and smearing David's reputation.

Along with the website, there were nasty e-mails too.

David: "Here's an e-mail, 'You're gay, don't ever talk again, no one likes you, you're immature and dirty, go wash your face.'"

CBC's Joan Leishman: "Why do you think they were picking on you?"

David: "I don't know. I honestly don't know. I'm not different from any other kid."

At the Knight's home near Burlington, Ont., David's mother Nancy says one of the most frustrating aspects of the whole affair was that the bullies who went after her son hid behind the anonymity of the internet.

"It's a cowardly form of bullying," says Nancy Knight. "It's like being stabbed in the back by somebody (and) you have no way of ever finding out who they are, or defending yourself against the words they say. So it's more damaging than a face-to-face confrontation with somebody who is clearly willing to tell you what he or she things of you."

Nancy says the electronic bullying seemed to have a different affect on David than even the verbal attacks and bruises.

"After this bullying started, he began withdrawing completely, isolating himself from everyone," she says. "I guess it's a matter of not knowing who knows about you sort of makes you feel you don't want to know anyone."

Most adults don't understand how damaging cyber-abuse is. But a group of Grade 8 students at Deer Park Public School in Toronto says it causes deep emotional wounds.

"This happened to a friend of mine," says one girl. "And people were sending her weird messages about her physical appearance and how she may have been overweight or not pretty and things that would hurt her feelings."

"One of my friends was checking his e-mail and it was kind of a threat, like me and my brother are going to beat you up," says one boy. "People may think it's funny, but actually it frightens people quite severely."

When the students are asked if any of them have used the internet to make fun of kids they know, one girl admits she has.

"Yeah. I used to be best friends with this girl and one night, me and my friends were just kind of, I don't know why, but we just decided to be kind of mean to her. We started calling her all these names and everything. After that, I regretted it… I tried to be her friend again, but she didn't want to because like she didn't want me to hurt her. So I guess I deserved it, but it made me feel really bad because I knew I shouldn't have done it."

When David's parents learned of the website about him, they asked police to investigate, to try and find out who was behind it and have it removed from the web. But the site stayed up.

"Freedom of speech protects the thought we hate just as much as the thought we like. It's not a pleasant lesson to learn all the time, but we know in societies where they don't allow freedom of speech that the consequences are much worse."

Still, the potential for kids to use the internet as a weapon for bulling is enormous. A recent survey found that: 99 per cent of Canadian students have used the internet. 48 per cent use it for a least an hour a day. Nearly 60 per cent use chat rooms and instant messaging.

So why don't kids just turn the computer off, not read the messages at all? David tried that for a while but he says today kids can't just drop out of the wired world, nor should they have to.

"I should have a right to be able to log on to the internet or use my cell phone or check my e-mail without having people sending me those messages," he says. "I mean, sure you could just hide from everything, you could shut the door to your room and sit in a chair for the rest of your life, but that wouldn't work out too well."

How big a deal is this? Is it something students can read and forget or is it something that they find incredibly upsetting?

"It's a huge deal... it should be taken seriously," says one student.

"Even though they may not be getting physically hurt, a lot of people are getting hurt emotionally," says another student. "Sometimes when they're hurt physically, their scars will heal. But when you're hurt emotionally, that could stay with you for the rest of your life and you may be going to need help for the rest of your life and it may not ever heal."

"Eventually the Knight family did get Yahoo to take down the website about David. But it wasn't easy. It took seven months of messaging, phone calls and, the family thinks, the threat of legal action before it was removed.

"When companies don't step in and say, 'You're not allowed to post this. We're gonna take it down,' basically they're promoting it, they're allowing it to go on," says David Knight. "The message is, 'Yeah, we agree with this and it's causing trouble for people, it's hurting.'"

David is now trying to recover from the bullying and beginning to realize his dream. He's learning to fly, hoping to become a fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces. David's starting to soar beyond the nightmare delivered to him by the new technology that, now, all of our children have access to.

HANDOUT

Bully Toolkit: Advice for Dealing with Cyber Bullying

In David’s story, he noted, "I should have a right to be able to log on to the internet or use my cell phone or check my e-mail without having people sending me those messages. I mean, sure you could just hide from everything, you could shut the door to your room and sit in a chair for the rest of your life, but that wouldn't work out too well."

What do you think about this statement? Do you agree or disagree?

As David’s story indicates, sometimes it takes an outside party to step in to make the bullying stop. But often times, the following tips could put an end to or lessen the harassment:

• Never reply to a bully.
• Sign off the computer.
• Leave the chat room or website.
• Block the bully’s messages.
• Save and print the bully’s emails or your message logs.
• Talk over how to handle the situation with a friend.
• Report your experience to a parent, teacher, or other trusted adult.

Source: http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/act_sheets/CY00_Stdnt_G68_L4.pdf

Lesson Four: “It’s Just Online…”: Showing How Cyber and Real Worlds Intersect (part two)

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objectives:

• Students will demonstrate a keen understanding of how cyberspace and the “real world” intersect.
• Students will develop an understanding of the implications of cyber bullying and, more broadly, how their actions can impact others.
• Students will become more aware of and sensitive to others’ perspectives (both “bullies” and “targets”), which will benefit them throughout their personal lives and school experiences.

Resources:

• Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk)
• Note cards
• Individual computer work stations (at least 1 to every 2 kids) with Internet connection
• IM application

Connecting to Previous Class: Ask the students how reading David’s story and having more time to reflect on it has impacted their thinking. Do they want to share anything that struck them? How was it writing the homework assignment? (Again, assure the students that they do not have to share what they wrote, but rather about the process of writing it.)

Main Activities – Suggested Procedure: 1. Tell students that today you will be doing a bit of role playing to really understand both the bully and target perspectives.

2. Divide the students up into groups of four, with two people getting to take on the bully persona and two people taking on the target persona (in each group).

3. Tell the students that you are going to read a story to them that gives them a context for the IM conversation:

Sitting around the computer with her friends at a Friday night sleepover, Judy asked, “Who don’t we like? Who can we mess with?” They chose Sara, who was always trying to fit into the group. Sure enough, Sara was online. So Judy started IM-ing with her—with all of the other girls providing suggestions. Their intent was to pass out the instant messaging conversation at school on Monday. (*taken from Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats)

4. Tell them to feel free to deviate from the story, but that the goal is to role play a cyber bullying incident. Before they start the role play, tell them to talk to their partner (the fellow bully or target) to figure out what their character is like—possible motivations, feelings, etc.

5. Walk around and monitor the small group IM conversations.

6. After 20 minutes, ask for instant reactions: what did it feel like to participate in this activity? What was it like for the bullies? The targets? Was it difficult? Familiar? Write up these reactions on the board.

7. Ask for a volunteer to share a transcript of their role playing activity with the rest of the class. Project this onto a screen and ask the students to walk them through the conversation.

8. Ask the rest of the class for their observations. Were their chats similar? Different? How? What were some strategies that the target used in dealing with the bullying? What were some ways it could have been better?

9. Ask the students to reflect on the activity: did it help them understand other perspectives? Did it reinforce stereotypes?

Homework assignment: Ask your students to write in class blog about the day’s activities. What new insights did they gain from witnessing the role play? We suggest giving them a written handout of the assignment, including some of the questions posed above.

Lesson Five: Exploring Netiquette

• The IM activity is something that I adapted from Joe Blatt’s HT-500 course.

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objectives: • Students will be able to identify and then demonstrate appropriate online behavior (or “netiquette”). (Ongoing through the class blog.)

Resources: • Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk) • Large sheets of paper • Individual computer work stations (at least 1 to every 2 kids) with Internet connection • Blog software (available free online—see appendix)

Connecting to Previous Class Ask students to share their blog journals (if they wish) with the rest of the class. Did engaging in the role play in the previous class make them think differently about their online interactions? Are they more aware of appropriate online behavior? Did the activity leave them with any questions? (If so, ask them to discuss these questions in small groups—according to who was interested in what question.)

Main Activities - Suggested Procedure: Activity 1: 1. Tell the students that today you’re going to spend some time talking about “netiquette” (or proper online behavior). For a really extensive overview of “netiquette,” please visit: http://www.internetsuperheroes.org/cyberbullying/youth/super_heroes_checklist_text.html This information is also included in the appendix. Be sure you go over some of the highlights, including: • Think before you send any cyber communication • Don’t send messages when you’re angry • Respect people’s privacy (don’t forward messages or IM conversations along to other people) • It’s easy for folks to misunderstand emails/IMs because you can’t gauge their facial reactions. For this reason, you must be very careful in what and how you communicate online. 2. Tell students that this class period you are going to be doing something that they are all familiar with – instant messaging! Let them know that the goal of this activity is for them to pay particular attention to what it feels like to communicate with someone whose identity you’re unsure of and also to practice netiquette. 3. Ask each student to write the AOL IM name on a small sheet of paper and give them to you (to place in a bag). Then walk around and ask each student to select two names from the bag and if they get their own screen name, to put it back. (Same goes if they get a username they are familiar with). 4. Tell the students that they will be instant messaging the usernames they received, but they are not allowed to disclose their identity to the people they are talking to. 5. Tell the students that they are going to be researching something online [you should ask them ahead of time what they’d like to research] while at the same time instant messaging. [This idea of getting them to research something at the same time that their chatting will allow them to have something to talk about and share with the person they are chatting with.] 6. If possible, divide the students up into two rooms to avoid the possibility of them discovering each other’s identities. 7. At the end of the 20 minutes, ask them to get in small groups and discuss what it felt like to chat with someone whose identity they did not know. Did it change the nature of their conversation? What was it like talking to someone whose facial reactions you could not see? How did they handle that? (Did they use emoticons, etc?) How would it have been different if this IM activity had taken place in their home versus a school environment? 8. Hand out sheets of paper to the students, and ask them to come up with a list of feelings about the experience. They will post these and then share their list with the rest of the group. 9. Facilitate a larger group discussion about their discoveries (and also their previous experiences). Talk about the anonymity factor of cyber bullying (see appendix for explanation). Why does anonymous interaction lend itself to being aggressive?

Activity 2: 1. Use the StarLogo program to illustrate how quickly and to how many people forwarded emails spread (to illuminate the understanding of the speed with which electronic harassment spreads). 2. Have students play with the variables (ex. If 1 person forwarded an email to 5 individuals, and then 5 individuals each forwarded to another 5…). 3. Ask students to explain what they just saw. Were they surprised?

Homework assignments: 1. Have students explore the concept of anonymity a bit more through another blog entry. Ask them to reflect on a time when they said something online that they wouldn’t have said to someone in person (either a positive or negative). Why do they think this was the case? What about the lack of face-to-face interaction made these kind of exchanges possible? 2. For this assignment, tell students that they are going to be active observers of their online experiences. Tell them to pay careful attention to the interactions they engage in or observe when they go online that day—whether it’s an IM, an email or text message exchange, or a blog entry. Have them record in their class blog examples of both positive and negative examples of online behavior, but make sure they keep the identities private. Give them a written handout with examples of both (included in this packet, “A Closer Look at Netiquette”).

HANDOUT

A Closer Look at Netiquette Taken verbatim from: http://www.itep.ae/english/EducationalCenter/Articles/netiq_01.asp

It has been said that there are no defined rules on the Internet. This does not mean, however, that we should forget to practice good manners and correct conduct individually. To apply these while using the Internet is called Netiquette.

Remember, all Internet users are human beings. On the Internet, we must not forget that we are dealing not only with machines but also with other human beings, who have feelings and rights that should be respected. A lot of time, especially in informal communications, we do not know with whom we are communicating. We can use special kinds of icons known as emoticons (emotion icons) to represent an expression or emotion.

Avoid using all caps (CAPITAL LETTERS); other Internet users may think that you are shouting at them. But do not mumble by typing everything in small letters either.

Avoid flame wars. On the Internet (especially on newsgroup discussions), flaming (or personal attacks) occurs when someone unintentionally or intentionally offends somebody. When this happens, person tends to answer back by attacking the other party’s opinion, personality or even their looks. This usually ruins the discussion and the whole discussion group as well. It can be easily avoided by not responding to the attacks, being kind and rational about the whole thing, setting aside personal emotions and respecting one another’s differences. Respect people’s privacy. E-mails should remain private between the sender and recipient. If not addressed to you, you should not read it. We have to respect the privacy of others in the same way, as we would like them to respect ours. People (like network administrators) who are in a position to control electronic networks should not also try to abuse their authority and read other people’s e-mail.

For additional tips, check out the Internet Superheroes site: http://www.internetsuperheroes.org/cyberbullying/youth/super_heroes_checklist_text.html

Lesson Six: Understanding Conflict

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objectives: • Students will be able to better deal with conflict, know who to go to for help, and how to document harassment.

Resources: • Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk) • Note cards

Pssst—Keep In Mind… Be sure to define “conflict” before going too far with the conversation or planned activities. You might want to ask the students to define it first or ask them to give examples (if they are unable to articulate an actual definition) before offering your definition. “Conflict: a serious disagreement or argument.” Ask students to talk about how it feels to engage in conflict (that this includes all kinds of emotions, including anger, anxiety, frustration, etc.).

Connecting to Previous Class Ask if any students have questions about what you all covered in your last class. Did any new insights come to mind after reflecting on topics of anonymity and netiquette? Are they more aware of how they communicate in an online setting?

Main Activities - Suggested Procedure: Activity 1: 1. After asking students to define conflict and give examples (to be written up on the board), divide the students into groups of four. 2. Ask the students to brainstorm in their groups about possible conflicts (either fictional or ones they’ve experienced) and to choose one to represent to the rest of the class. 3. Tell them that you will be doing a “freeze frame” activity, where students will act out the scenario, and other students can call “freeze” at any time to change the direction of the scene. (They can change it in any way they want, but the idea is that they find multiple ways of dealing with conflict.) 4. After one or two groups have shared this freeze frame activity and you have talked about the decisions the group made, ask them to make a connection between the face-to-face conflicts and a cyber conflict. What would this look like in an online setting? How would they deal with it then? (The idea is that they will still practice the same set of skills – documenting the harassment, talking it over with a friend and/or trusted adult, and going to an adult for help if necessary.)

Activity 2: 1. Tell students that they will now begin thinking about their awareness campaign for their peers and adults in the community (assure them that this is not something that they have to share with their parents, but it could be if they want to). Explain the goals of the awareness campaign as being: • To educate their peers and adults about cyber bullying o What is it? o What are the different types of cyber bullying? o How is it different from traditional bullying? How is it the same? o What are ways to deal with cyber bullying? o What are resources for parents, peers? 2. Let students know that they can decide to do this campaign in any way they choose and that they should spend the rest of the class deciding on the format: website, poster campaign, peer-led workshops, an information held at the local library for interested adults, etc. (or a combination of both). [After they decide on the format, you should spend the time between classes preparing some guidelines/questions for them depending on the chosen format.] **I was going to include this in my prototype, but I think it’s beyond the scope of the project considering the number of variations possible!

Homework assignment: Explain to students that for their homework assignment, they will be asked to interview an adult about a time that they experienced conflict and how they handled it. Briefly go over interview tips (included as handout). Remind your students that it is important to protect people’s identities because their interview subjects might tell them something that’s embarrassing or negative; ask them to give their interview subjects a pseudonym in order to maintain privacy. Give your students a choice for whether they present their interviews to the whole class or just to teacher (encourages safe atmosphere). Let the students know that they have a few options for the final product: they can write a reflection piece on what they learned; they could write a short story (reenacting the event); they could transcribe the interview with their insights sprinkled throughout; they could come up with some artistic means for relaying what they learned (a painting, an interpretive dance, a dramatic representation, etc.); or they could give a presentation to the class.

For Interviewing Tips, visit: Radio Diaries Teen Reporter Handbook http://www.radiodiaries.org/handbook4.html

Lessons Seven and Eight: Spreading the Knowledge, Developing Awareness

Time: 2 class periods, 2 hours

Objectives: • Students will be able to educate their peers and adults about the dangers of cyber bullying, which will strengthen their critical thinking, literacy, and public speaking skills.

Resources: • Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk) • Resources related to the format they chose (poster board, computer access, etc.)

Connecting to Previous Class 1. Ask for volunteers to share their interview projects. Have discussion after each one – why did these things happen? What did the interview subject learn about the experience? What did the student learn from the interview? What emotions were involved in the experience? 2. If a student shares something that had a negative ending, be sure you emphasize the positive aspects of the experience (what did the interview subject take away from this experience? What did they learn? What would have been a more positive way of handling the situation?). 3. Write up on a board the different tactics/strategies that their interview subjects used in resolving the conflict. Ask the students to think about ways these tactics could be applied in an online setting. (Option: Give them a real-life scenario to apply these strategies to.)

Real life scenarios available here: http://www.isafe.org/imgs/pdf/education/bonus/TrueStoriesApril2006.pdf

For this activity, we suggest using Ryan’s story.

Main Activities - Suggested Procedure: 1. Tell the students that they will continue working on their awareness campaign today and that their goals for this particular class are to: a. Revisit the goals of their campaign and the format they chose. b. Figure out the steps of the campaign (considering the time they have left). c. Assign roles (timekeeper, note-taker, visual guru, etc.). d. Begin researching additional resources for educating about cyber bullying. 2. Ask the students to write up their awareness campaign learning goals for their peers and the adults to be turned in at the end of the first class. Ask them to consider how audience plays a role in what information they share and how they share it. (This is when you can share your blog entries if you have been keeping one as a means of highlighting what adults might need to know as a result of their awareness campaign.) Ask them to come up with two separate lists of campaign goals – one for peers and one for adults. Where are there similarities? Differences? 3. Ask the students to assess their goals – what do they need more information on? How can they use the class blog to help them develop materials? 4. By the end of the second class, students should have a plan for their campaign, and an idea of the information they want to share.

Homework assignment: At the end of the first class, students should be asked to do additional research and drafting of written materials for their campaign goals to be posted to the blog. At the end of the second class, ask the students to come up with three thoughtful suggestions for ways to make the campaign stronger and post these to the blog.

Lesson Nine: Putting the Pieces Together: Awareness Campaign Prep

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objectives: • Students will be able to educate their peers and parents about the dangers of cyber bullying, which (among other things) will strengthen their critical thinking, literacy, and public speaking skills.

Resources: • Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk) • Note cards • Individual computer work stations (at least 1 to every 2 kids) with Internet connection • Blog software • Resources dependent on campaign format they chose

Connecting to Previous Class: Project the class blog on a screen and show students’ suggestions for ways to make the campaign better. Discuss that they have two sessions left to work on the campaign (and perhaps practice presenting if they have chosen a format that requires a presentation) and figure out with them what is doable (out of their lists of suggestions) in that time period.

Main Activities - Suggested Procedure: 1. After discussing what suggestions students had, ask the class how they feel about the campaign and the work that they’ve done. What have they learned? 2. Ask the students how the Internet can provide them with additional resources (emphasize here the positive aspects of the Internet—as a source of information; also need to discuss that not everything they read online is authentic, so give them ways of identifying “official” sites of information versus random resources). 3. Monitor the students’ online research and help them as necessary. Make sure they don’t get sidetracked by other pursuits and check in with them as necessary. 4. By the end of this session, students should have all of the information and materials necessary to complete their campaign.

Homework assignment: Ask the students to continue work on the campaign—research, writing, making posters, etc.

Lesson Ten: Getting Ready to Go Live with Campaign

Time: 1 class period, 60 minutes

Objectives: • Students will be able to educate their peers and parents about the dangers of cyber bullying, which (among other things) will strengthen their critical thinking, literacy, and public speaking skills.

Resources: • Flip chart, markers (or chalk board and chalk) • Note cards • Individual computer work stations (at least 1 to every 2 kids) with Internet connection • Blog software • Resources related to campaign.

Pssst—Keep In Mind… Everyone gets nervous about public speaking! If students have chosen a campaign format that requires them to speak to small or large groups, you should spend this time giving them tips, practicing the presentations or small group discussions, etc. Share with them your experiences—times you’ve felt nervous about public speaking.

Main Activities - Suggested Procedure: 1. Depending on the format of the campaign, spend this last class period going through the campaign (if it’s a presentation, practice the presentation; if it’s a website, tweak the content and look; if it’s a poster campaign, put finishing touches on the posters). 2. After you have spent the majority of the class on this activity, ask students to get out a sheet of paper and answer the following questions (say/reveal them one at a time). Let the students know this will not be collected, but they will be having a discussion with their peers in small groups on this topic. a. What are three things they felt they already knew about cyber bullying coming into this class? b. What are three things they feel they have learned as a result of this course? c. What are three things they have learned as a result of the campaign preparation? d. Do they feel better prepared to deal with cyber bullying should it occur in the future? If yes, why? If no, why not? e. Do they feel more aware of their actions and how their behavior in an online world impacts real people? If yes, how? If no, why not? 3. Ask them to discuss in small groups, and walk around and join in the conversations as appropriate. 4. Ask them to come back in the big group and share their insights. 5. Be sure to share with them your responses to these questions and how you have learned from them. 6. Finally, thank them for all of their hard work and participation!

Appendix

Additional Information:
What Is Cyber Bullying? Cyber bullying involves using electronic mediums such as email, text messaging, websites, chat rooms, instant messaging, or pagers to intentionally harm others. An official definition of bullying given by the National Mental Health Information Center states that bullying behavior must have the following three characteristics: 1) it must have a negative intent; 2) it must occur repeatedly over time; and 3) there must exist an imbalance of power, “with a more powerful person or group attacking a less powerful one” (National Mental Health Information Center, 2005). This “imbalance of power” is a key element of bullying, which distinguishes this behavior from other types of aggression.

How is it different from traditional bullying? Cyber bullying retains all three of these characteristics of traditional bullying, but with some significant twists. First, the Internet and other electronic mediums allow for the bully to remain anonymous to his or her target, which, among other things, establishes an imbalance of power, with substantial power given to the perpetrator. Because of this inability to see the implications of his or her behavior, the bully is unlikely to experience feelings of remorse or compassion toward his or her target. People tend to behave differently on the Internet and in ways that they would never act in the “real world,” a phenomenon that has been given the term “disinhibition” by researchers.

Another way that cyber bullying is different from traditional bullying is the manner and speed with which electronic medium can distribute messages. No longer must bullies rely on the slow turn of the rumor mill to berate and torment their victims. With a click of a mouse, harmful messages can be sent to a large number of people instantaneously (via list servs, group text messages, group chats, websites, etc.).

Finally, this form of bullying does not allow the target to easily escape from the harassment because—as long as one has a cell phone or access to a computer—there are no distinct boundaries to the maltreatment. (But it should be noted that even if one “disconnects” entirely, it is difficult to escape from harassment since cyber bullying and the real world almost always overlap.)

Rationalizations for Aggressive Online Behavior/Harassment (From I can’t see you—you can’t see me, Willard, 2004), Though most of us acquire values from our parents, there naturally exist outside influences such as our peers, our school setting, and the media; these set of values is known as our internal moral code. We typically feel guilty when we act in a way that goes against our internal moral code—unless we can rationalize the action. This rationalization becomes easier in an online setting, where our actions might not seem real or we cannot see the reactions of the person who we have just harmed. The following examples of rationalizations that exist in both the real world and an online setting (but tend to be more prevalent in an online atmosphere): 1) “I won’t get caught” 2) “It didn’t really hurt” 3) “It is not a real person” 4) “Everyone does it.”

How KIR Addresses the Rationalization Problem The Keeping It Real program strives to combat these rationalizations through activities that ground what may seem like harmless actions to the real world-—making connections to both the students’ own experiences and true stories about cyber bullying that has gone too far. This act of “making connections” will be done through a series of hands-on activities that are rooted in real life experiences—-of both the students' experiences and their peers.

One of the most important ways to ensure that teens don’t rationalize negative online behavior is to shift the focus from punitive (what you’re doing is against the rules) to their own sense of right/wrong, or values (what I’m doing is wrong because it goes against how I believe one should treat someone). If one relies on punitive measures to get teens to behave online, what happens when an authority figure is not around to enforce those rules? The aforementioned “rationalizations” would be too easy for students to fall back. One way to encourage this kind of self-managed behavior is for adults to encourage students to think through their actions-—by considering the perspectives of others and also relating their actions and behaviors to their own moral codes. This information helped to inform the design of the Keeping It Real program, ensuring that the programming was directed toward prompting the students to think critically about their own actions and that of others rather than emphasize rules or authority figures.

Free Blogging Programs

The following blogs do not require software downloads, but are hosted online and are free of charge to users.

• denotes that blog can be password-protected

• denotes blog that can be closed to members only (not necessarily password protected) ◊ denotes moderated by a single user (meaning, you would have the authority to approve membership requests and posts before they go live).

• ץ LiveJournal, www.livejournal.com (Must set up a “community”) [For more information about this site, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveJournal]

◊• MSN Spaces, http://spaces.msn.com/ [For information about this blogging site, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Spaces] ◊• MySpace.com, www.myspace.com (Must set up a “group”) [For information about this site, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace]

For more information about blogs and setting one up, visit: http://www.ibloggers.net/C179279332/E595796984/index.html

Checklist for Cyber-communications Visit: http://www.internetsuperheroes.org/cyberbullying/youth/super_heroes_checklist_text.html

Possible Survey Questions (to be asked before starting curriculum)

Source: http://www.isafe.org/channels/sub.php?ch=op&sub_id=media_cyber_bullying (Adapted—added my own questions as well.)

Ask students to answer the following questions: 1. I have been bullied while online. a. Never b. Once c. More than once in the past two months. d. More than once in the past week. e. Weekly f. Monthly 2. I have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages. a. Never b. Once c. More than once in the past two months. d. More than once in the past week. e. Weekly f. Monthly 3. Someone has said mean or hurtful things to me online. a. Never b. Once c. More than once in the past two months. d. More than once in the past week. e. Weekly f. Monthly 4. I have said something mean or hurtful to another person online. a. Never b. Once c. More than once in the past two months. d. More than once in the past week. e. Weekly f. Monthly 5. I have not told my parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to me online. a. Agree b. Disagree 6. It is OK to say something online that I wouldn’t normally say to the person’s face. a. Agree b. Disagree

Additional Resources

Cyberbully.org: http://cyberbully.org/ Cyberbullying.ca: http://www.cyberbullying.ca/ Cybersmart Curriculum: http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans/68_04.asp Educator’s Guide to Cyber Bullying: http://cyberbully.org/docs/cbcteducator.pdf Internet Superheroes: http://www.internetsuperheroes.org/cyberbullying/ MindOh! Foundation: http://www.mindohfoundation.org/bullying.htm Parent’s Guide to Cyber Bullying: http://cyberbully.org/docs/cbctparents.pdf Cyberbullying and cyberthreats: Responding to the challenge of online social cruelty, threats, and distress. Eugene, OR: Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use.

Glossary of Terms Sources: MindOH! Family Activity/Cyberbullying (http://www.mindoh.com/docs/FamilyActivity_CyberBullying.pdf) and Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Cruelty, Threats, and Distress (2006)

Anonymity – staying anonymous to another user or stealing passwords and sending out emails or instant messages pretending to be someone else.

Blogs – (Web logs) Provides users with the tools to publish personal content online about ranges of topics such as hobbies, travel or work projects. People then connect their blogs with other people’s blogs with similar interests.

Bully Blogs – online blogs or web sites that can have either one person posting to the blog or allow a large number of contributors. The content of the posts might be malicious or gossip intended to harm others. A “bully blog” would be an online blog intended to tease, embarrass or threaten others. Blogs are often opinions similar to op/ed newspaper columns.

Chatrooms – A virtual meeting “place” where users can find people to talk with online. Most chatrooms accommodate over 100 users simultaneously.

Cyber bullying – harassing, humiliating, intimidating and/or threatening others on the Internet. Cyber bullying sometimes involves racial, religious or culture slurs. It can also be sexual in nature. It can involve someone your child knows or a complete stranger. Cyber bullying can include cruel jokes, malicious gossip, embarrassing information or photographs, and/or Web sites designed to target a specific child or teacher.

Cyberstalking – when online incidents of harassment causes the victim to fear his or her life.

Discussion groups (newsgroups) – a discussion group accessible via the Internet. Each group (forum) is categorized and devoted to a single topic. Messages are posted in bulletin form and remain on a server, rather than being emailed.

Emails – electronic mail. A service which allows subscribers to pass messages from one person to the other through an Internet service provider.

E-thugging – Referring to cyberbullying as e-thugging suggests that there is an online equivalent to traditional thugging which is commonly associated with gang activities.

Exclusion – Excluding someone from an online group like an IM “buddies” list.

Flame mail (being flamed, flaming) – receiving/sending a nasty or abusive email that is meant to inflame a situation or enrage someone

Harassment – repeated, ongoing sending of offensive messages to an individual target. Harassing messages are generally sent through personal communication channels, including email, instant messaging, and text messaging. Harassment is longer-lived than a flame war and is typically one-sided. In a desire to attack and harass a target, the teen may elicit the involvement of online contacts who have no personal connection whatsoever with the target.

Impersonation – occurs when the cyberbully gains the ability to impersonate the target and post material that reflects badly on the target or interferes with the target’s friendships. This may occur in the target’s personal web page, profile, blog, or through any form of communication. Frequently, the exchange of passwords is considered evidence of true “friendship” among youth, especially among teen girls. But this exchange of passwords allows a bully to gain access to the target’s account on a system and pose as the target.

Instant Messaging – (IM) an online activity which allows two or more people to converse online. Subscribers can create a contact list of those they want to communicate with.

Message Boards – online place where people with common interests go to talk about those interests such as sports teams, TV shows and online games.

Offline Slam Books – notebooks that students pass around in school, asking questions such as “What’s your favorite food?” or “What’s your favorite movie?”. A final question (which is where the “slam” comes in) asks participants to slam the people writing in the book by asking a question such as “What do you think about Amy?”

Online Multi-Player Role Playing Games - online games where someone can create a character and play through that character with people from around the world.

Online Slam Books – same as the offline concept, but a Web site or threaded discussion where visitors can post answers to the questions online and can be easily spread around electronically.

Outing and Trickery – Outing is a publicly posting, sending, or forwarding of personal communications or images, especially communications or images that contain intimate personal information or are potentially embarrassing. Trickery can also occur as a part of outing. An innocent target can be tricked into thinking that a communication or sending of messages is private, when the cyberbully intends to trick the target into communicating something embarrassing that will be disseminated to others or used as a threat.

Spam (being spammed) – junk email from people you don’t know.