Putting an End to Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is bullying that occurs over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying often takes place through SMS, Text, and apps. It commonly occurs through social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, partake in, or share content that is negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. Cyberbullying can harm the online reputation of everyone involved. The StopBullying.gov website lists how Cyberbullying is unique compared to other forms of bullying. Cyberbullying is persistent, permanent, and hard to notice. It is persistent because "digital devices offer an ability to immediately and continuously communicate 24 hours a day, so it can be difficult for children experiencing cyberbullying to find relief." It is permanent because "most information communicated electronically is permanent and public and a negative online reputation, including for those who bully, can impact college admissions, employment, and other areas of life." It is hard to notice because "teachers and parents may not overhear or see cyberbullying taking place, it is harder to recognize."  The statistics on how many children experience cyberbullying are astonishing. The Security.org website highlights the statistic studying the parents of children between the ages of 10 to 18, 21 percent of children have been cyberbullied, and 44 percent of all internet users in the U.S. said they have experienced online harassment. Cyberbullying is unacceptable and needs to be put to an end. 

Cartoon Image of a girl sitting on a laptop
 on her knees, with her hands covering her face. On the laptop
with her is an orange cat, and a phone with scrambled
 words coming out of it in a text message bubble.
 Coming out of the computer screen is five arms,
pointing a finger at the girl. A boy in an orange sweatshirt
 and sunglasses is also coming out of the screen, pointing
 his finger at her, with a speech bubble coming from the
 boy with scrambled letters. Surrounding the girl
is chat bubbles with a thumbs down, sad face and
heartbreak emoticon. 

Cyberbullying can be hard to detect but it is not impossible. Working in Education, Teachers and administrators should be familiar with warning signs of a child being cyberbullied or who is cyberbullying others. Some of the signs include noticeable increases or decreases in device use, including texting, a child exhibiting emotional responses (laughter, anger, upset) to what is happening on their device, a child hiding their screen or device when others are near, and avoids discussion about what they are doing on their device, social media accounts are shut down or new ones appear, a child starts to avoid social situations, even those that were enjoyed in the past, and a child becomes withdrawn or depressed, or loses interest in people and activities. I have experienced an indirect form of cyberbullying. While I was playing on the softball team at The University of Tennessee, a forum was brought to my attention by another teammate, and its only purpose is to talk badly about The University's athletes. There are forums about every sport. I am speaking directly about the softball forum and how unnecessary comments about body weight, appearances, and personal lives, that had nothing to do with performance were often said on the site. The comments were also filled with negative and hateful comments whenever we lost, made errors, not had our best games, and had any way to pick and tear us apart, they would. It was always so surprising to me because the people who are hiding behind these screens tearing girls who are 18-22 years apart are supposedly our biggest fans.  It directly affected me because I found myself going through the forum after every game, praying that my name was not mentioned.  However, I was reading all of the negative about my teammates and best friends. I was consistently checking it in an unhealthy way. Another way cyberbullying has affected me is receiving hate comments on my TikToks. I posted a video that went viral, which got 1.8 million views. That video alone got me from 100 followers to 12.1 thousand followers on TikTok. While it was exciting that I was receiving attention with likes and follows, the number of hate comments I got was absurd. That same video had 885 comments on it and probably 600 of those were negative and hurtful things. After a while, I had to stop reading the comments because it was altering my days. I would want to know what people were saying about me and it was starting to affect me in every way. Over time with posting more videos, I had to realize that people are cowards who hide behind a screen and will say anything to try and bring a human being down to make themselves feel better. Cyberbullying hurts and can tear people apart. Technology and social media are going to continue to grow, we need to find a way to spread more awareness and put an end to cyberbullying for everyone's sake. 

Mental Health Care for Teachers

Mental Health Care includes finding ways to care for ourselves emotionally, psychologically, physically, and socially. The Mental Health.Gov website gives insight into factors that may lead to mental health problems, including Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry, Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse, and Family history of mental health problems. Mental Health Care is just as important as any other health care and should be treated as such. In The United States, we are experiencing an alarming rate of Teacher Burnout because of low pay, an abundance of take-home work, and extreme exhaustion, mentally, physically, and emotionally. How are Teachers expected to take care of their students, if they are not getting enough time or resources to take care of themselves first? 

Cartoon Graphic of a side profile of a head,
specifically the brain.  The brain has flowers coming
out of it. Includes cartoon characters on ladders and on
the ground tending to the flowers and adding other
elements to it. (a heart, lightbulb, watering can, and
another flower. 

Teacher burnout is a real issue in The United States. Teachers are overworked, underpaid, have very few resources to help them, and do not have adequate amounts of time to take care of themselves or their families. I have interviewed and discussed with multiple teachers who have told me, they never get burnt out from the children, but they never have time for themselves and feel extreme amounts of exhaustion. It makes me apprehensive to teach. I have dreamt about being a teacher since I was a child, but now that it's getting closer, I am only hearing negative things about it. I am trying to find ways to promote mental health care and prevent teacher burnout. The tips I have found are to try and set boundaries early on, focus on what you can control, stay physically active, stay in touch with loved ones, and many more ways. In my first three years of college, I was a part of the Lady Vol softball team and part of the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee which represents all of the NCAA athletes of The University of Tennessee. The subcommittee I served on was Mental Health and wellness committee. We discussed ways sports and athletics can help spread awareness of mental health. We researched ways to promote self-care in ways that are controllable by maintaining a healthy sleep routine, managing stress with healthy coping mechanisms, and practicing regular self-care activities such as exercise, meditation, and yoga. I have struggled with anxiety and depression since my freshman year of college, so advocating mental health care is one of the most important things to me. I will continue to passionately advocate for mental health care going into my teaching profession.