Students use new charter to pick on cyberbullying

Milan Hausner, principal of Lupáčovka Junior Language School (JLS) in Prague 3, strives to be on the cutting edge of educational progress and technology. After all, JLS was one of the first schools in the Czech Republic to have interactive whiteboards, which garnered a special visit from Bill Gates in 2001. But despite the school's focus on technology in the classroom, Hausner has been determined this year to protect students from one of the biggest online threats to kids: cyberbullying.

"We wanted to raise awareness and prevent cyberbullying before it happens, so we decided to launch a schoolwide Anti-Cyberbullying Project including a bilateral Anti-Cyberbullying Charter written by students, which was ratified this spring," Hausner said. "The charter outlines 10 codes of respect, safety and etiquette when using the Internet and social media devices."

The schoolwide project against cyberbullying began in fall 2010 with the goals of raising awareness about the prevalence of cyberbullying, educating peers on what to do about it and trying to prevent it at their school. The students themselves are the managers of the project and are responsible for overseeing all of its stages.

"If students and their peers are involved in spreading awareness, the project will be more effective and give students a sense of ownership," Hausner said.

In order to reach a wider audience and gain local and international support, JLS partnered with Elena Farago School in Bucharest, Romania, for the project and attained the cooperation of leaders in the community including the Czech branch of Microsoft, the Czech Commission of UNESCO and Promethean, an interactive learning technology company.

"We've made children and adults aware of the threat of cyberbullying and actions that could and should be taken to prevent this," Hausner said.

Because of the growing prevalence of Internet use and the use of mobile phones among youths, cyberbullying is especially a danger due to peers using these devices to harass, name call or threaten physical harm by sending text messages, e-mails and even posting embarrassing pictures and messages about classmates on social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Even though JLS has not had a tragic bullying incident like other schools in the Czech Republic and other parts of Europe and the United States, international tragedies have raised the eyebrows of many school officials, including Hausner. A few studies conducted during the past decade on violence in Czech schools revealed that the incidence of bullying is on the rise and that Czech students are in danger of being either a victim or perpetrator.

JLS student-elected representative for the anti-cyberbullying project Sophia Stoltz, 13, said that her friend had to change her cell phone number because she was being teased about her looks through text messaging. Stoltz believes that spreading awareness will help students learn how to deal with bullying.

"It's best not to respond to bullying because it will only make the situation worse," Stoltz said. "Conflicts would be solved more peacefully if others learned better ways to deal with them. We can help others by writing the charter."

To find out just how prevalent cyberbullying was at JLS and Elena Farago, Hausner facilitated a student survey adapted from the EU project eCircus, an online anti-bullying technology and research service.

The results of the survey showed that about 71 percent of students at JLS said they had witnessed cyberbullying within six months prior to the survey, as compared with 30 percent of the Romanian students. Also, 58 percent of the Czech students reported they had been called a nasty name or were threatened or physically harmed, while 65 percent said they had been ostracized or had rumors spread about them within six months prior to the survey. Experts believe children who are bullied traditionally (face-to-face) are also at great risk of being cyberbullied.

On the JLS anti-cyberbullying blog, student Tocileanu Miruna warns parents about the emotional pain caused by cyberbullying by posting, "Parents need to be supportive of their child during this time. You may be tempted to give the 'Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you' lecture, but words and cyber attacks can wound a child easily and have a lasting effect. ... Don't brush it off."

The students at JLS elected representatives to serve on a committee to lead the anti-cyberbullying project at their school and in partnership with the students in Romania. The elected students were responsible for managing the project by drafting the Anti-Cyberbullying Charter and obtaining the approval of the student body. Also, using social media outlets such as YouTube, blogging and videoconferencing helped to raise awareness about the anti-bullying movement at both schools.

Cyber etiquette

Within the body of the charter, students state their cyber etiquette by saying, "We respect the opinion of others; we will not be rude to them if we don't agree with them." Also, the students plead with policymakers to pass Internet safety legislation, stating, "We strongly request that policymakers and political leaders of the EU ensure that Internet and social networking [safety issues] take [their] proper place in ... developmental agendas. We demand that due care and attention is given to formulating Internet safety policies." The children also state in the charter that policymakers should strive to regulate Internet safety programs in schools for all students.

The charter was ratified Dec. 10 when Elena Farago students visited the Czech Republic to sign the Anti-Cyberbullying Charter at Černínský Palace alongside JLS students. Local representatives of UNESCO, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Culture Ministry and the Interior Ministry, the mayor and deputy mayor of Prague 3 as well as representatives from the Embassy of Romania were invited to the signing. The final adoption of the charter took place in the spring. In March, JLS student representatives traveled to Bucharest to visit Elena Farago to recognize their partner school and to discuss the project.

"The signing of the charter is only a small step," Hausner said. "The campaign against cyberbullying must be permanent, and all kids should know the possible ways of how to prevent it."

JLS hopes to spread the word about the Anti-Cyberbullying Charter in order to make a positive change among youths worldwide. Schools can register to sign the charter by visiting the JLS website at Aces.lupacovka.cz.

Kerri Bartlett can be reached at
features@praguepost.com