I recently participated in this poll FOX Nation was taking, asking the question "Have your kids ever been the victims of bullying?" In order to see the poll results you had to answer, so I took a screen shot of the result. (By the way, this was not the final result of the poll - just the result at the time that I answered).
This poll was spurred by the rising number of youth taking their lives because of being bullied. What a very tragic place we find ourselves at today. It breaks my heart.
Yes, I am old enough to say that "Back in my day" - we didn't have to contend with social media, cell phones, texting, and the constant pressures of having contact with peers 24/7. We got a break from hearing from our peers before school, after school and only saw friends intentionally on the weekends.
Here is list of some of the phone/computer applications that our youth are using:
Do you know what your children are doing in cyberspace? If you feel they are old enough to monitor themselves, then I highly suggest getting accounts of your own so that you can watch/read their activity on social media and their friends interactions. Accountability can go a long way in preventing, monitoring and being knowledgeable about what is really going in their lives.
What can we do?
Talk with your students, let them know you care, and find Christian resources to help you learn all you can about how to stay in touch with the issues our children are facing today. Especially in the world of cyberspace.
One of the most reliable and trustworthy sources I have personally found is Focus on the Family. http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/schooling/bullying.aspx
The most important aspect, especially for Christians and Christian homes is to continually train, teach and encourage our families in our daily walk as believers. We may not know if our children are bullies or if they are being bullied, but we DO know the One who knows, and He cares for our children even more than we do.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2
This poll was spurred by the rising number of youth taking their lives because of being bullied. What a very tragic place we find ourselves at today. It breaks my heart.
Yes, I am old enough to say that "Back in my day" - we didn't have to contend with social media, cell phones, texting, and the constant pressures of having contact with peers 24/7. We got a break from hearing from our peers before school, after school and only saw friends intentionally on the weekends.
Here is list of some of the phone/computer applications that our youth are using:
Snapchat: With this app, kids send photos and videos -- some
of them racy -- that disappear within seconds.
Voxer: Think walkie-talkies. This push-to-talk messaging
allows kids with smart phones to share text, photos and videos with lightning
speed.
Kik: A quick instant messaging service that claims 80
million users, who can send messages and photos with relative anonymity. It's
rated 17+ but is growing in popularity with young teens and tweens.
Ask.fm: It's meant to be a place where kids can ask tough
questions and share their secrets, often anonymously. Started in 2010, it
claims 65 million users and has been linked to a number of cyberbullying cases
that resulted in suicide.
Facebook: The old social media standby. But according to a
recent survey, teens' enthusiasm for the most popular social networking site is
waning. (JUST LAST WEEK FACEBOOK changed the security for teens making it less secure)Twitter: This service allows you to shoot messages of 140
characters or less out into the world -- or directly to friends and enemies.
It's growing in popularity with teens.
Instagram: Selfie central -- it's where tweens and teens
share photographic records of their lives, among other filtered photos.
Vine: Quick 6-second video loops are the hallmark of this
service, which is rated 17+ in the iTunes Store.
Tumblr: Users collect and share items of interest with
fellow users -- from videos to images to blog posts.
4Chan: A legacy spot
for dissing where anyone can post images on boards and anyone can comment. The
channels here are not for the faint of heart.
Reddit: "Subredditors" have power on this message
board, where folks discuss everything from sex to Christmas presents and vote
those links and comments up or down.
Pinterest:photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies. Users can browse other pinboards for images, "re-pin" images to their own pinboards, or "like" photo no monitoring of nudity or language)
Wattpad: Young
aspiring authors write stories (no monitoring of language or content) and others
can comment on the content and interact with each other.
Talk with your students, let them know you care, and find Christian resources to help you learn all you can about how to stay in touch with the issues our children are facing today. Especially in the world of cyberspace.
One of the most reliable and trustworthy sources I have personally found is Focus on the Family. http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/schooling/bullying.aspx
The most important aspect, especially for Christians and Christian homes is to continually train, teach and encourage our families in our daily walk as believers. We may not know if our children are bullies or if they are being bullied, but we DO know the One who knows, and He cares for our children even more than we do.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2
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