Cyberbullying resource sites

Stopbullying.gov

Commonsensemedia.com

Cyberbullying.org

Stopcyberbullying.org

Utah Safety & Crisis Tipline - http://utahstudentsuccess.weebly.com/utah-safety-and-crisis-tip-line.html

Responding to Cyberbullying

Schools deal with bullying through anti-bully policies, but cyberbullying presents new challenges. As a teacher or school staff member, there are things you can do in the battle against cyberbullying.

Support – Provide the person being bullied with support & reassurance. Tell them that they did the right thing by telling. Encourage the child to get help from parents, school counselor, principle or teachers. Make sure they know that there is support.

Evidence – Help the child keep relevant evidence for investigations. This can be done by taking screenshots on the phone & saving and printing messages or webpages. Do not delete messages from phone.

Information is Key – Give the child advice to make sure it doesn’t happen again. This can include changing passwords, contact details, blocking profiles on social media sites & using the social media bullying reporting tools.

No Retaliation – Ensure that the victim does not retaliate or reply the messages.

Privacy – Encourage the child to keep all personal information private on the internet.

Investigation – The cyberbullying claim must be investigated fully. If the bully is known, ask them to remove the offensive remarks or posts. All records should be kept as part of the investigation.

Report – Abuse on social media sites or through text messages needs to be reported to the website or cell phone providers. Report to law enforcement when there are:

• Threats of violence
• Child pornography or sending sexually explicit messages
• Taking a photo/video of someone in a place they would expect privacy
• Stalking or hate crimes

 

Preventing cyberbullying is not easy, because of the fact that it is on the internet it is hard to monitor & control.

The best way to prevent it is treat it as a whole school community issue, as well as treating it as another form of bullying within the schools anti-bullying policies.

Make sure that the students know that, no matter what form it’s in, all bullying is wrong & will not be tolerated.

Encourage the bystanders to be “up standers” by encouraging them to report any cyberbullying that they see, letting the bullying know that it’s not ok, & not be a part of spreading the gossip or hurtful messages.

How to Report Cyberbullying on Social Media

FACEBOOK – If there is a post that goes against their community standards you can report it by clicking the report link. On the top right of a post there is an arrow, click it and select “I don’t like this post”, you will then be guided with on screen instructions.

INSTAGRAM – If you are tagged in a hurtful or embarrassing photo you can report it by clicking the {…} on the corner of each photo. Instagram will look in to the matter & verify if the image is inappropriate.

You can also report a profile by click a box that at the top right that has an arrow coming out of it. This is also a way to block someone from viewing your profile. However, even being blocked they can still see comments you leave on mutual friends feeds and you can still be mentioned in captions – so make sure once you block someone you also change your username. Again – always screen shot ALL cyberbullying and save for reporting.

TWITTER – Just like on Facebook and Instagram it is important to save the information & then block the user from contacting you and viewing your information. You can also report it by going to twitters help center which walks your though the reporting process.

SNAPCHAT – Snapchat is challenging because the image deletes quickly, again make sure you are taking a screenshot of any cyberbullying that is going on. You can also report it on the snapchat website. Support.snapchat.com/ca/abuse

How to talk to a child about a suicide attempt

The US Department of Veterans Affairs has several videos that may help you understand how to talk to a family member about a suicide attempt:
http://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn19/talk2kids/schoolage.asp

Labels Are For Cans

This video shows the power of opening up to others, and not labeling others according to what they look like:


http://youtu.be/84OT0NLlqfM

The Power of Gratitude Activity and video

https://eduguideblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/gratitude-activity-for-students/

Davis School District HOPE Squad Training Day

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

http://www.standard.net/Preventing-Teen-Suicide/2015/07/05/HOPE-Squads-gear-up-for-school-year.html[8/4/2015 11:04:14 AM]

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

TUESDAY , JUNE 23, 2015 - 10:57 AM

LAYTON — It was a day of hope when several hundred students comprising HOPE Squads from schools

across Davis School District met for training to gear up for the upcoming school year.

HOPE Squads use teens voted on by their peers to be eyes and ears at the school to see warning signs in

depressed or suicidal peers and empower them to report the signs to an adult.

Davis School District piloted the program at Clearfield and Syracuse high schools three years ago, then added

more secondary schools in following years. Since being mandated by the state Legislature that schools need to

have some form of suicide prevention program, this fall all secondary schools in the district will be equipped

with HOPE Squads.

It is the first year South Davis Junior High will have a HOPE Squad. (HOPE stands for Hold on. Persuade.

Image by: KERA WILLIAMS/ Special to the St

 Students from across Davis School District attend the HOPE Squad Training Day at Northridge High School in Layton on

Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

By Dana Rimington

Standard-Examiner correspondent

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

http://www.standard.net/Preventing-Teen-Suicide/2015/07/05/HOPE-Squads-gear-up-for-school-year.html[8/4/2015 11:04:14 AM]

Empower.)

“We’ve had 14 kids hospitalized this last year because of suicide attempts, so we got really worried and knew

we had to do something fast,” South Davis HOPE Squad adviser Polly McQuarrie said. “I think our students

being able to tell a peer orally that something is wrong will help the situation.”

(From left) Centennial Junior High School students Matt Kennedy, 11, Cara Finlinson, 13, and Jaysen Ford, 13,

link arms during an exercise at a QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) session at the HOPE Squad Training Day

at Northridge High School in Layton on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

It is the first year the district has brought all of the HOPE Squads together at the same time to receive training

on the do’s and don’ts of how to talk to someone who is struggling with thoughts of suicide, how to overcome

challenges, how to refer someone who needs help to an adult, and how to be a peer adviser.

“These are teams of students aimed at giving people hope, something they may not be able to see in their

darkness. We have a problem and we’re going to do something about it,” Christy Hutchinson, prevention

coordinator, said at the June gathering. “This endeavor came about because we believe in having a HOPE

squad in every secondary school and wanted everybody to be trained and see the bigger picture by bringing

this to a district level.”

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

http://www.standard.net/Preventing-Teen-Suicide/2015/07/05/HOPE-Squads-gear-up-for-school-year.html[8/4/2015 11:04:14 AM]

Eighth-grader Salote Katoa is looking forward to her first year on the HOPE Squad at South Davis Junior High.

“I’ve had some experiences with friends attempting suicide, and I want to try and stop that from happening. I

think this group will help because I feel like students listen more to each other than to adults,” Katoa said.

Hudnall made sure all of the HOPE Squad members put the Davis County crisis line at 801-773-7060 into their

Hudnall, a retired school superintendent, began the program back in 1998 after identifying the body of a

student attending the school where he was serving as principal. “There were no warning signs that we were

aware of, and I thought, ‘Why would such a wonderful boy take his own life?’ It was in that moment I vowed to

help prevent others.”

Hudnall began looking into suicide prevention and discovered that evidence-based research shows that seven

out of 10 adolescents who are struggling will confide in a friend or trusted peer rather than an adult. However,

most of the time those youth don’t refer their struggling peers to an adult who can get professional help for the

youth in crisis.

“I realized we were missing the piece of peer-to-peer help. The purpose of this program is to create a way

peers can reach out and support one another. We never know the challenges people are going through, but we

need to have the courage to get to know them. We don’t want to wait for the perfect moment, we need to create

that perfect moment,” Hudnall told students before their break-out sessions. “Our ultimate goal is to get them to

an adviser. You aren’t in this alone. This is a team effort and a lot of people are on board to do what we can to

prevent suicide.”

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

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phones and the number teens can text for help — 741741.

The troubling issue of teen suicide is the focus of the Standard-Examiner’s 2015 initiative. Through the year,

the newspaper will explore the complex problem through a variety of stories, videos, photographs and graphics.

The aim of the Teen Suicide Initiative is to raise awareness in our communities and to provide information

about resources available to youth, parents and citizens to prevent such deaths.