Bullying is an epidemic that has been prevalent in society for centuries. When discussing bullying it is hard to figure out where to start exactly. Does one start with the victim and the social and emotional trauma that is caused by being bullied? Or should we start with the person doing the bullying so we can attempt to eliminate the behavior? Or better yet, do we address the medium in which bullying is occurring? Should our emphasis be placed on location, age, gender, racial demographics, or how the bully learned their behavior? Overall, there are many questions that arise, and many studies, data, and information that can help to answer these questions, but one of the biggest areas of concern for Central High School has been the rise in cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as “in which people use new communication technologies, such as social media and texting, to harass and cause emotional harm to their victims” (ISBE, Suicide Resource Prevention Center). At Central High School
However, not all hope is lost. It is imperative that a school be proactive in establishing any anti-bullying policies, including anti-cyberbullying policies. Even though state law requires schools to teach some form of internet safety at least once in a school year starting in grade three each school district (and for that matter individual school) has their own decision to make on how to teach these lessons. There is good and bad to allowing each school district their own decision on how they want to educate their students’ on internet safety. The good is that it allows each school district to understand their own unique dynamics and demographics, but the bad is that it does not require a set of standards for what exactly should be