Fairytale

On top of your head you might think of Eurovision Song Contest and a dark heard gay from Norway, singing and playing the violin like mad. But this fairytale is about a girl I know quite well.

Once upon a time, a girl started to work as a kindergarten teacher. About that time, she also created a profile on Facebook. That combo wouldn´t provide any trouble she thought.

Boy, was she up for a surprise!

The position in the kindergarten was demanding in several ways. A lot of new stuff to learn, there was many children with special needs and she had to create relations to many different parents. Still, the girls was happy, and did her very best. The Facebook profile got updated, pictures was added and tagged. The girl was careful about what pictures to publish. Or so she thought! Days and weeks went past. She spent the time changing diapers, playing outdoors, singing, discussing and doing project work. In the evening she spent some time socializing on Facebook.

The girl was rather inexperienced about Facebook so she hadn´t restricted the privilege of watching her pictures.  Naive? Probably. But she didn´t think she had any enemies out there!

Boy, was she up for a surprise!

The girl didn´t have any thoughts, what so ever, that what she and her friends on their spare time put on Facebok would be relevant for her job as a kindergarten teacher.

Boy, was she up for a surprise!

The girl was playing with some kids in the sandbox, when her boss called for her. It sounded like there was something serious. The girl could not understand what her boss had in mind. She hurried in to the boss´ office, anxious to know what this was about.

Boy, was she up for a surprise!

“To day I´ve got a letter from the mayors’ office. The letter is about you!” the boss said. Enclosed in the letter was a picture of the girl, and a text asking “Do the employees of our municipality want to promote them selves like this?” The coward sender had of cource not signed the letter.

The girl got knocked out!

The picture, quite innocent, was taken at a girls trip some time back. A friend of her had added the picture to Facebook picturing the girl sitting on the toilet, singing, with her clothes on. It was printed from her Facebook profile. How could this picture upset someone? She felt bullied. She got paranoid. Someone wanted to hurt her. Perhaps some parents in the kindergarten, or even some of her colleagues, or even …
The girl needed long time to recover from the shock and the paranoia. The incident was an eye-opener. Netiquette and digital bullying (Norwegian) became a topic for discussion in the kindergarten.

”Think you a little about!”
So, why do I tell this story? I think it is important to be aware of what we put online. It can be held against you some day.

It can be hard to see if someone is being bullied or if it’s just fun for all parties. The philosophy should anyway be: What you cannot do to someone in real life, you shouldn’t do online either. Even if you are communicating through some screen, it still is real people you are in touch with.

No doubt, the computer will be part of our life in foreseeable future. The technology is providing a huge amount of opportunities. Unfortunately someone is abusing these tools.

This video show examples of digital byllying:
"Think before you do...."


Cyber bullying
Bullies using SMS, MMS, chatting, e-mails, blogs, Facebook, mobile phones etc is called cyber bullies. This kind of behavior is hard to see for outsiders, and it is difficult for the victims to defend themselves. 

Because computing is a part of everyday life, netiquette and cyber bullying has to be placed on the agenda. Studies show that cyber bullying is a growing problem. Norway is for a fact worst in Europe when it comes to this.

How can we end this trend?
Should this “education” be provided by the schools or is this a parental responsibility?
By far, this is an after-school problem. Should then the school take a lead position fighting this?
Why can`t parents go online, to find resources and information about how to stop cyber bullying?

I think parents, pupils and the school should stay together to fight this problem! In school to day, the children are supposed to develop digital competence. Netiquette and source evaluation are important parts of this competence.
According to Kunnskapsløftet, usage of digital tools is a basic skill in all subjects. For each subject a description of how to use these tools is provided. Critical evaluation, sources, copyright or privacy is mention for each subject. In social science it is pointed out that digital skills includes to follow rules and norms for online communication.

Thus, the school can`t opt out this responsibility. We have to teach the children how to use the Internet safely and securely! And also to understand the consequences of their online activity!

It`s an imperative to include the children in developing rules for online behavior. This work has to start even in first grade.


Or what do YOU think??