St Joseph s Roman Catholic High School. Anti-Cyberbullying Policy

Transcription

1 St Jseph s Rman Cathlic High Schl Anti-Cyberbullying Plicy

2 This schl believes that all peple in ur cmmunity have the right t teach and learn in a supprtive, caring and safe envirnment withut fear f being bullied. We believe that every individual in schl has a duty t reprt an incident f bullying whether it happens t themselves r t anther persn. What is Cyber Bullying? There are many types f cyber-bullying. Althugh, there may be sme f which we are unaware. Here are the mre cmmn. 1 Text Messages that are threatening r cause discmfrt als included here is Bluejacking (the sending f annymus text messages ver shrt distances using Bluetth wireless technlgy). 2 Picture/Vide-Clips via mbile phne cameras images sent t thers t make the victim feel threatened r embarrassed. 3 Mbile Phne Calls silent calls r abusive messages; r stealing the the victim s phne and using it t harass thers, t make them believe the victim is respnsible. 4 s threatening r bullying s, ften sent using a pseudnym r smebdy else s name. 5 Chat Rm Bullying menacing r upsetting respnses t children r yung peple when they are in web-based chat rms. 6 Instant Messaging (IM) unpleasant messages sent while children cnduct real-time cnversatins nline using MSM (Micrsft Messenger_ r Yah Chat althugh there are thers. 7 Bullying via Scial Netwrking use f defamatry blgs (web lgs), persnal websites and nline persnal wn web space sites such as Beb (which wrks by signing n in ne s schl, therefre, making it easy t find a victim), Facebk and Myspace althugh there are thers. At St Jseph s, we take this bullying as seriusly as all ther types f bullying and, therefre, will deal with each situatin individually. An episde may result in a simple verbal warning. It might result in a parental discussin. Clearly, mre serius cases will result in further sanctins. Technlgy allws the user t bully annymusly r frm an unknwn lcatin, 24 hurs a day, 7 days a week. Cyber-Bullying leaves n physical scars, s it is, perhaps, less evident t a parent r teacher, but, it is highly intrusive and the hurt if causes can be very severe. Yung peple are particularly adept at adapting t new technlgy, an area that can seem a clsed wrld t adults. Fr example, the numerus acrnyms used by yung peple in chat rms and in text messages (POS Parents Over Shulder, TUL Tell Yu Later) make it difficult fr adults t recgnise ptential threats. At St Jseph s, pupils are taught hw t: - Understand hw t use these technlgies safely and knw abut the risks and cnsequences f misusing them. - Knw what t d if they r smene they knw are being cyber bullied. - Reprt any prblems with cyber bullying. - If they d have a prblem, they can talk t the schl, parents, the plice, the mbile netwrk (fr phne) r the Internet Service Prvider (ISP) t d smething abut it.

3 St Jseph s Schl has: 1 An Acceptable Use Plicy (AUP) that includes clear statements abut e-cmmunicatins. 2 Infrmatin fr parents n: E-cmmunicatin standards and practices by schls. What t d if prblems arise. What is being taught in the curriculum. 3 Supprt fr parents and pupils if cyber bullying ccurs by: Assessing the harm caused. Identifying thse invlved. Taking steps t repair harm and t prevent recurrence. Fr pupils: If yu are being bullied by phne r the Internet: Remember, bullying is never yur fault. It can be stpped and it can usually be traced. Dn t ignre the bullying. Tell smene yu trust, such as a teacher r parent, r call an advice line. Try t keep calm. If yu are frightened, try t shw it as little as pssible. Dn t get angry, it will nly make the persn bullying yu mre likely t cntinue. Dn t give ut yur persnal details nline. If yu are in a chat rm, watch what yu say abut where yu live, the schl yu g t, yur address, etc. All these things can help smene wh wants t harm yur build up a picture abut yu. Keep and save any bullying s, text messages r images. Then yu can shw them t a parent r teacher as evidence. If yu can, make a nte f the time and date bullying messages r images were sent and nte any details abut the sender. There is plenty f nline advice n hw t react t cyber bullying. Fr example: and have sme useful tips. Text/Vide Messaging Yu can easily stp receiving text messages fr a while by turning ff incming messages fr a cuple f days. This might stp the persn texting yu by making them believe yu have changed yur phne number. T find ut hw t d this, visit??? If the bullying persists, yu can change yur phne number. Ask yur mbile service prvider. D nt reply t abusive r wrrying text r vide messages. Yur mbile service prvider will have a number fr yu t ring r text t reprt phne bullying. Visit their website fr details. D nt delete messages frm cyber bullies. Yu d nt have t read them, but, yu shuld keep them as evidence. Text harassment is a crime. If the calls are simply annying, tell a teacher, parent r carer. If they are threatening r malicius and they persist, reprt them t the plice, taking with yu all the message yu have received.

4 Phne Calls If yu get an abusive r silent phne call, d nt hang up immediately. Instead, put the phne dwn and walk away fr a few minutes. Then hang up r turn yur phne ff. Once they realise they cannt get yu rattled, callers usually get bred and stp bthering yu. Always tell smene else: a teacher, yuth wrker, parent r carer. Get them t supprt yu and mnitr what is ging n. D nt give ut persnal details such as yur phne number t just anyne. Never leave yur phne lying arund. When yu answer yur phne, just say hell, nt yur name. If they ask yu t cnfirm yur phne number, ask what number they want and then tell them if they have gt the right number r nt. Yu can use yur vic t vet yur calls. A lt f mbiles display the caller s number. See if yu recgnise it. If yu d nt, let it divert t vic instead f answering it. D nt leave yur name n yur vic greeting. Yu culd get an adult t recrd yur greeting. Their vice might stp the caller ringing again. Almst all calls nwadays can be traced. If the prblem cntinues, think abut changing yur phne number. If yu receive calls that scare r truble yu, make a nte f the times and dates and reprt them t the plice. If yur mbile can recrd calls, take the recrding t. s Never reply t unpleasant r unwanted s ( flames ) the sender wants a respnse, s d nt give them that satisfactin. Keep the s as evidence and tell an adult abut them. Ask an adult t cntact the sender s Internet Service Prvider (ISP) by writing abuse@(and then the hst) e.g. abuse@htmail.cm. Never reply t smene yu d nt knw, even if there is an ptin t unsubscribe. Replying simply cnfirms yur address as a real ne. Web Bullying If the bullying is n a website (e.g. Beb) tell a teacher r parent, just as yu wuld if the bullying were face-t-face even if yu d nt actually knw the bully s identity. Serius bullying shuld be reprted t the plice fr example, threats f a physical r sexual nature. Yur parent r teacher will help yu t d this. Chat Rms and Instant Messaging Never give ut yur name, address, phne number, schl name r passwrd nline. It is a gd idea t use a nickname. Never give ut phts f yurself. D nt accept s r pen files frm peple yu d nt knw. Remember it might nt just be peple yur wn age in a chat rm. Stick t public areas in chat rms and get ut if yu feel uncmfrtable. Tell yur parents r carers if yu feel uncmfrtable r wrried abut anything that happens in a chat rm.

5 Think carefully abut what yu write; d nt leave yurself pen t bullying. D nt ever give ut passwrds t yur mbile r accunt. Three Steps t Stay ut f Harm s way: 1 Respect ther peple nline and ff. D nt spread rumurs abut peple r share their secrets, including their phne numbers and passwrds. 2 If smene insults yu nline r by phne, stay calm and ignre them. 3 D as yu wuld be dne by. Think hw yu wuld fee l if yu were bullied. Yu are respnsible fr yur wn behaviur make sure yu d nt distress ther peple r cause them t be bullied by smene else. The Law is n Yur Side The Prtectin frm Harassment Act, the Malicius Cmmunicatin Act 1988 and Sectin 43 f the Telecmmunicatins Act, may be used t cmbat Cyber Bullying. Peple may be fined r sent t prisn fr up t six mnths.