President and First Lady Hosting Whitehouse Conference on Bullying Prevention

Tomorrow, March 10, the White House will be hosting parents, students, teachers, and community leaders for a conference on bullying prevention. You can watch the conference live and join in the discussion with bullying experts through an online chat. Please follow this link to see the President's video invitation to the event. You can also go to the website stopbullying.gov for more information and resources about bullying.

$10,000 Internet Safety Video Contest

Trend Micro and the International Internet Safety Coalition have announced their second annual "What's Your Story" video contest. The contest is open to students ages 13 and up. The contest also accepts submissions from teachers and their classrooms. Each video entry is expected to address one or more of the following internet safety topics:

1. Being a Good Online Citizen
2. Using a Mobile Phone Wisely
3. Maintaining Your Privacy Online

One grand prize of $10,000 will be awarded and six $500 prizes will also be given out for different categories. You can also check out last year's winners on the contest site.

This contest is a great vehicle to teach your students about issues of internet safety, as well as digital video storytelling, writing a story board, acting and teamwork.

i-SAFE Internet Safety Curriculum Now Available via MyLearningPlan

We are pleased to make available i-SAFE's K-12 Internet Safety curriculum to all BPS educators. The interactive lesson plans, webcasts, and supplemental videos are being offered so all BPS educators can confidently teach their students appropriate online behavior, awareness and response regarding subjects such as cyber bullying, social networking, sexting, online predators, intellectual property and much more. In order to access the materials, you will need to sign-in to MyLearning Plan and search the district catalog for keyword: i-safe. Once you sign-up, please follow the instructions to access the i-SAFE site, which will allow you online access to grade-specific internet safety lesson plans.

Note: This is for Boston Public School use only, please do not share the district's subscription code with non-BPS personnel.

Resources for CyberSafety

The educational technology blog, Free Technology For Teachers, posted about Eleven Resources for Teaching & Learning Web Safety. Check out some of these sites for your classroom cyber safety lessons and pass them along to your student's parents!

Massachusetts Districts Considering Teacher Facebook Policies

Two very interesting, thought provoking articles this weekend in the Boston Globe and Herald about what some school districts are considering as social networking policy for their teachers. Recently, some teachers in New York have been terminated or face disciplinary measures for inappropriate relationships with students that included contact on social networking websites.

This is a great opportunity to ask your students what they think about this. Do they think that it is appropriate to be friends on Facebook with their teachers? Why or why not? Please comment!

Bullying Story on 20/20 and other Resources

This past Friday, ABC news magazine program 20/20 aired a story about bullying. While the title of the story was "Bullied to Death", they did mention that bullying (and cyberbullying) effect victims in non-lethal ways. One of the most staggering statistics that the segment mentions is that 160,000 children stay home from school each day out of fear from being bullied. Needless to say students who fear being bullied in school can easily fall behind in their studies. Another interesting part of the story was the interview they had with two students who identified themselves as former bullies. They talk to the students about the different reasons they bullied others. You can view the video online here.

Tech & Learning has released a free e-book entitled "Keeping Students Safe Online: What Works". The book covers some research on internet safety as well as tips for when students go online. Microsoft has also released a free internet safety e-book online. It is called "Own Your Space, Keep Your Stuff and Yourself Safe Online". It is actually a print book that was published a few years ago. This is a great resource to give to students and parents or to have as a part of your internet safety curriculum.

Safe Driving Law Takes Effect in Massachusetts

The new Safe Driving Law has taken effect and it is now illegal for anyone to read, write or send text messages while driving. State and local police are already handing out citations to drivers who are caught violating the new ban. Drivers can be expected to pay a $100 fine for their first offense. Fines can reach up to $500 for repeat offenders. 16 and 17 year-old drivers may also face a 60-day loss of license and mandatory driver training. All cellphone use while driving is illegal for 16 and 17 year-old drivers (except for emergency 911 calls). While older drivers are permitted to make calls on their cellphones while driving, police can give out $35 fines for improperly using a cellphone. These offenses include anything that might interfere with driving, such as not having at least one hand on the wheel. For more information on the Safe Driving legislation, please click on the link below.

Massachusetts Safe Driving Legislation

Verizon Grant Supports Effort to Raise Awareness About the AUP

The Boston Public School district will roll out the Everyone Needs to Know the AUP initiative in fall 2010, thanks to financial support from the Verizon Foundation. Verizon joins Microsoft, Boston Society of Information Managers and Bunker Hill Community College in supporting the five-year-old City of Boston's Cyber Safety Campaign.

Last spring, with the increase in cyber safety issues facing students and school districts, combined with the new Massachusetts' anti-bullying law now in place, the BPS Office of Instructional and Information Technology (OIIT) decided to use the opportunity to ratchet up the focus on the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). OIIT's TechBoston unit director, Felicia Vargas, led the process to revise the Boston School district's Acceptable Use Policy for computer usage in the school district.

This past summer, OIIT's TechBoston unit hired 14 high school Cyber Safety Mentors and three college-age supervisors. The cyber mentors worked over an intensive seven-week period conducting over 60 internet safety presentations throughout the city of Boston. The mentors also developed podcasts and presentations about the district's new AUP.

Beginning in September, OIIT will be working to increase the visibility and understandability of the Acceptable Use Policy for all students. With Verizon's financial support, OIIT will hire several BPS graduates and will deploy these Verizon Cyber Mentors to conduct cyber safety presentations in BPS schools during the year. The Verizon Cyber Mentors will be paired with schools to help educate the entire community about internet safety.

The AUP materials that the Cyber Mentors developed this summer are now posted online where the teachers, parents, administrators and students can access them throughout the school year. Check out the lesson plans, glossaries, and cool podcasts developed for all grade levels at www.bpscybersafety.org/aup.html

For more information about this initiative, please contact Felicia Vargas, fvargas@techboston.org, or Eric Esteves, eesteves@techboston.org

Photo Caption: BPS Cyber Safety Mentors pose for a photo with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley after briefing her on the cyber safety during a visit to her office on August 19, 2010.

The City of Boston Announces Anti-Bullying Contest Winners

Back in March, the City of Boston invited all school-age children to submit creative ways of addressing the bullying problem and incorporate one of two contest themes. Students in grades K-5 are reminded to "Be Kind Online", while students in grades 6-12 are urged to "Keep it Social".

With nearly 300 submissions, the citywide Anti-Bullying Contest was a wonderful success. Mayor Menino acknowledged some of the winners who were present at the BPS Tech Day held at Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday, June 5, 2010. All of the grand prize winners received a prize donated by Microsoft. The winning submissions can be seen online at http://www.bpscybersafety.org/contest.htm.

Grand Prize Winners:
K-5 Poster: Julia D. - Guild Elementary
K-5 Written: Adonis A. - Grew Elementary
K-5 Written: Cameron J. - Grew Elementary
6-12 Poster: Tucker G. - Boston Latin Academy
6-12 Video: Cindy S., John P., Edison D., Spencer B. - Madison Park TVHS

Honorable Mention:
Vivian L. - Boston Latin Academy
Hayleigh O. - Tynan Elementary
Wingyiu W. - Boston Latin Academy
Ming L. - Boston Latin Academy
Maryn S. - Boston Latin Academy
Sean & Annie C. - Perry School
Yara B. - Fifield Elementary
Quinn R. - Bates Elementary
Jazlynn S. - Bates Elementary
Jason D., Jordan D., Jason C., Jahkai Y. - Emerson Elementary
Jolanda C. - Fifield Elementary
Kaia W. - Fifield Elementary
Sabrini C. - Boston Latin Academy

Globe Article on New Anti-Bullying Law

Here is an interesting viewpoint from the Boston Globe about the new Massachusetts anti-bullying law. According to the principal featured in the story, the new anti-bullying law does not give principals any more authority in disciplining bullies than they had before the law was passed. In fact, students cannot be expelled for bullying according to this principal. The law calls for more training and compels teachers to report incidents of bullying. Principals or other administrators have to investigate those incidents. The feeling in this article is that since there is no money for the training and since administrators are not given the ability to expel bullies, the law will not do much to deter bullying in and out of schools.

What do you think?

Internet Safety Presentations at the Sarah Greenwood School

The Sarah Greenwood School hosted OIIT for two afternoons of cybersafety lessons last week. Eric Esteves and Joe Kidd went out to the school to talk with students about cybersafety strategies and cyberbullying. They traveled to eight different classrooms and spoke with students in grades four, five, six, seven and eight. In grade four, the presentation focused around the BPS CyberSafety Heroes, while the upper grade presentations focused on cyberbullying. They were very impressed with the knowledge of the younger students about cybersafety and bullying issues. The older students were also receptive to talking about bullying and the effects that bystanders have on bullying situations. There has been a lot of focus on bullying lately, and one of the groups that trainers have been really trying to target are the bystanders. We want students to understand that bystanders have the power to stop bullying, and that they do not have to necessarily stand up to the bully publicly, but can walk away from the situation and not give the bully an audience. Bystanders can also call the the Boston Anti-bullying Hotline at 617.635.5050 to report a situation.

OIIT would like to thank the students and teachers at the Sarah Greenwood for hosting us last week and being so attentive.

A Few Articles...

BPS cybersafety expert, Eric Esteves, sent me a few interesting articles over the past couple of days. The first one is a new sexting bill that was signed into law by Governor Patrick a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20100413gov_patrick_signs_bill_to_outlaw_sexting_to_minors/

The new law closes a loophole in the state's obscenity law that caused a conviction to be overturned by the state's highest court. Apparently, the law only covered visual representations of sexually explicit material but now will include text messages, email and other electronic communication.

The next article covers the bullying youth summit in which students from TechBoston Academy took top honors for their video about cyberbullying. We will have a complete recap of the event with pictures of the students at a later date.

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x457997430/Local-students-taking-a-byte-out-of-cyberbullying

The last article comes from the latest Sunday Globe Magazine and is entitled "The Secret to Stopping a Bully?". The premise of the article is that maybe the best way to stop bullying is to educate the bystanders or audience of the bullies themselves. The theory is that by getting the bystanders to walk away, or not pay attention to the bully, it will stop the bully. Bullies draw much of their satisfaction from the reaction they get from their peers. If there is no reaction, then there is no reason to bully. This would be a great discussion to have with your students. Is this even a possibility? What would schools need to do to train their students not to be bullying bystanders? How does cyberbullying play into this theory? There is the potential of having thousands of bystanders to bullying when it takes place online. How could you possibly reach all of those bystanders?

We would love to get your opinions and comments.

Massachusetts Lawmakers Approves Anti-Bullying Law

The Massachusetts legislature unanimously approved an anti-bullying law this afternoon. The bill will now go to Governor Deval Patrick's desk for review. The law would require all school employees to report instances of bullying and require principals to investigate them. You can read the Boston Globe article here.

Check Out the Facebook Safety Center

Ever wonder how you can report abusive behavior on Facebook? Are you a parent or a teacher who wants to learn some best practices of keeping your kids safe on the the popular social networking site? Well, go straight to the source and check out the recently overhauled Facebook safety center. Facebook wants to send the message to its users that they take the subject of online safety very seriously, and as such, have created an updated safety center with sections for parents, educators, teens and even law enforcement. So, if you are constantly tagged in embarrassing photos or you are being bullied online, go to the safety center to find out what you can do about it.

Now if they would only add some video tutorials or a safety orientation, like our BPS cybermentors suggested to Mayor Menino in February, then we would really be getting somewhere!

Common Sense Media Announces New Digital Citizenship Curriculum

Common Sense Media is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to "improve the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology." Their website includes age recommendations and reviews of televisions shows, movies, books, video games, websites and music. They also offer a parental advice section. Coming soon, they will offer a digital literacy and citizenship curriculum designed for 5th to 8th grade students. Based on Dr. Howard Gardner's research on digital ethics and the GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the new curriculum will include five units, including:

• Digital Life. How the anytime-anywhere-everywhere nature of digital media requires responsible choices.
• Privacy and Digital Footprints. How to manage privacy online.
• Connected Culture. How to build respectful one-on-one, group, and community relationships online and protect against cyberbullying.
• Self-Expression and Reputation. Who we are in various online contexts and how to protect your reputation in the process.
• Respecting Creative Work. How to get credit for original creations and respect other’s creative property.

You can also preview the Privacy Unit by clicking here.

ABC World News Reports on Boston Bullying Hotline

Over the weekend, ABC World News Report aired a story on how the city of Boston is trying to combat cyberbullying. The report featured a pair of students from Charlestown High School who were recent victims of cyberbullying. They were both interviewed about recent cyberbullying incidents involving Facebook pages. They called the new Boston anti-bullying hotline to report the incidents and get the pages removed from Facebook. There was also a recent Boston Globe article about the hotline, which is answered by staff at the Boston Health Commission. To report any incidents of cyberbullying in the city of Boston, please call (617) 534-5050. You can view the ABC News story below.

TechBoston Academy Students Win PSA Contest!

Students from TechBoston Academy have won the 2009-2010 MARC Public Service Announcement Contest for grades 6-12 for their video about cyberbullying titled, "Anti-Social". The Massachusetts Agression Reduction Center will hold their annual youth summit on April 30. The summit is a free event open to all students in grades 6 to 12 and their teachers from any schools in Massachusetts. Students from all over the state talk about their school's programs and strategies to combat bullying. During the summit, the TechBoston Academy students will receive their award for winning the contest. They also get a limo ride to the event which is being held at Bridgewater State College. You can read more about the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center by going to their website. Below, you can view the "Anti-Social" video.

Massachusetts Legislature Approves Anti-Bullying Legislation

Last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously approved an anti-bullying bill in an effort to "secure our students from bullying, both during the school day and after school hours." The Senate previously approved the measure. According to an article in the Boston Globe, Governor Patrick has indicated that he will sign the bill after it has been reconciled in committee between the House and Senate. Also from the article, in the House's version of the bill, bullying is defined as "the repeated use by a perpetrator of a written, verbal, or electronic expression, or physical act or gesture...directed at a victim that causes physical or emotional harm or damage to the victim's property; places the victim in reasonable fear or harm to himself or of damage to his property; [or] creates a hostile environment at school."

The legislation requires school officials to report bullying to the school principal and that the principal must contact law enforcement if it is determined that the incident is a criminal act. The bill also includes funding for training school officials and teachers on how to identify and respond to bullying. You can also read about the legislation from an article in the Boston Herald.

City Announces Anti-Cyberbullying Contest

The city of Boston has announced an anti-cyberbullying contest that is open to all residents of Boston who are enrolled in grades K-12. The contest calls for "artistic submissions promoting healthy online behavior". Works of art can include posters, videos, songs, poetry and more. Students in Boston public schools, charter schools, and private schools are all welcome to apply. The contest is broken up into two category themes. For students in grades K-5, the theme is "Be Kind Online". For students in grades 6-12, the theme is "Keep it Social". All submissions are required to include the city's new anti-bullying hotline, (617) 534-5050. Entries are due by April 30, 2010. One winner will be selected from each grade level and will be publicly recognized my Mayor Menino. For more information about the contest, please go to the BPS cybersafety website to download the contest flyer and guidelines.

PBS Frontline Special: digital_nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier

Two weeks ago, PBS Frontline aired its special "digtial_nation - life on the virtual frontier". This new look into how digital media has transformed our lives is from the same producer that brought us the ground-breaking Frontline special, Growing Up Online, back in 2008. The 90 minute documentary takes a closer look at both the positive and negative effects that are the result of our now constantly connected lifestyles. There is a fascinating look at a group of MIT students and how the distractions caused by multitasking with technology may be a disservice to them. There is also a look at a high school which values technology as a vital teaching tool for today's students. The documentary does a very nice job of not creating a viewpoint that is slanted for or against technology, but the impact that technology has on many different facets of our lives. You can watch the video in its entirety on the PBS Frontline website, or you can watch it in smaller segments. The website also has lots of extra videos that weren't included in the original airing of the episode.