School access to social network sites ‘could reduce cyberbullying’

ACCESS to websites like YouTube and Facebook in second-level schools could help teachers reduce the degree to which teenagers use technology as a bullying weapon, an expert claims.

Most of the country’s second-level schools are restricted from using video or social networking sites because of fears that they are used for cyberbullying. The blocks are set up by software from the National Council for Technology in Education (NCTE), with differing restriction levels depending on the age of pupils.

One of the most common types of cyberbullying is the use by young people of mobile phones to make videos of other students and then putting them up on websites like YouTube.

But Brendan Smith, who helps teachers and parents’ groups overcome fears about new technologies, said they don’t understand these phenomena because they don’t try to use them.

“Students know they can talk about YouTube, Bebo and Twitter because the teachers can’t use them. But things like Twitter and YouTube should be used in schools, with restrictions on them to make sure inappropriate material isn’t accessed, and then you can get teachers to understand them,” he said.

“Greater awareness among teachers would allow them to better police the use of these technologies as bullying devices. Things like YouTube are also a great resource for videos about science, geography and all the school subjects,” said Mr Smith, education outreach officer for the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway.

He suggested classes or schools could set up their own pages on Facebook to help them integrate technology into education.

Mr Smith gave a workshop about cyberbullying yesterday at the annual conference of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), whose director, Clive Byrne, acknowledged students are far more technologically adept than teachers or parents. “Staff can already filter access to websites but if wider access can be allowed safely through the NCTE, then we would support it. The best way of having responsible access to the technology could be decided through discussions between parents, student councils and schools,” he said.

Mr Smith advised parents who might be concerned about their children being bullied — or bullying — using the internet and other technology to find out how to use it themselves.

“Parents can set up Bebo or Facebook pages. If the child thinks their parents understand and can access these things, they’re less likely to use them inappropriately. It also means parents can talk much better to their children about these things when they’re using them themselves,” he said.

But, he said, control at home is still important and computers or mobile phones with internet connection should not be kept in teenagers’ bedrooms.