CYBERBULLYING

When we first arrived, our Spanish trainer, Manolo, warmly welcomed us and introduced himself and then asked each participant to briefly introduce himself or herself. Participants’ countries were Poland, Hungary and Croatia. We were introduced to a platform called Padlet where the timetable and the Info Pack were uploaded which we had received before our mobility to get familiar with what we were going to see and do. Padlet became the location where we needed to do our assignments including writing a paragraph and uploading a photo introducing ourselves, uploading presentations about our schools, reporting each day’s activities including photos, and writing down some notes from the activities we had during the course comparing bullying with cyberbullying.

On the second day, the trainer chose to have the outdoor activity instead of the third day which turned out to be a good idea. Although for some reason, the application Action bound for scavenger hunt did not function on his phone, we had a very nice and informative walk through Malaga including a hike to the hill where the castle remains were there to enjoy the picturesque scenery of Malaga beach and port. Manolo was ready to explain all about the history of the places and tried to answer questions that we had about different things. He helped us to find a local restaurant to experience the cuisine that the locals have. We also tried to get familiar with some basic Spanish. During the trip, we exchanged experiences about Erasmus+ which added value to our outdoor cultural activity.

From day 3 and onwards, we had a more thorough examination into the course including practical works, different cyberbullying case scenarios where we worked in pairs, sharing best practices in bullying prevention and response, defining what is bullying and characterizing the bully and the victim. Bullying is hurtful, repetitive, intentional and always happens when there is power imbalance.

Cyberbullying is one of the forms which uses the digital technologies to harass, intimidate, or humiliate others. This can be in public or in private. Bystanders’ role was also mentioned to be a very important asset. Detection is the first step where the role of parent-teacher communication was discussed to be of an essence for collaboration. My personal favorite was having anonymous reporting systems in the school. Among the thirteen actions that can be taken, documenting the evidence stood out for me to implement. A highlight for me when listing the different forms of bullying was that many times it can be as simple as giving silent treatment to a student where classmates choose not to talk or deal with a certain student.

Another crucial point which was discussed and worth having a workshop in the sending organization was about school programs and policies in bullying prevention. Several apps and websites, like Rethink app, Anti-bullying measures on Instagram, Anti-Bullying Alliance among others were introduced as resources to further our knowledge and preparedness against cyberbullying. Finally, discussions about future cooperation especially with our trainer and follow up activities were made along with exchanging contact information and receiving our certificates.

This mobility was funded by the European Commission.

The information presented here does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

written by Harout Parseghian
14-19 Aug 2023