Seattle group launches lesson-based program to combat cyberbullying

By Staff Writer

A nonprofit organization has released free online lessons to help students and educators address cyberbullying.

Committee for Children, a Seattle-based group that provides violence- and bullying-prevention campaigns, has released the five-lesson program Steps to Respect: Cyberbullying Prevention Module. The material includes lesson scripts, family letters as well as in-class and take-home activities.

The program also covers such issues as loss of control, predicting consequences and sharing too much information on the Internet. The executive director of Committee for Children said that cyberbullying is scary for children because, unlike incidents on the playground or in school, online attacks can include thousands of other kids, which can add to the humiliation.

She said that kids need to be taught how to be good cyber citizens and apply their consequential thinking to their digital behavior as well.

The release of the Steps to Respect coincides with this week's Seventh Annual Conference of the International Bullying Prevention Association in Seattle. At the event, the Committee for Children will present results of a recent study that showed the positive effects of the Steps to Respect module.

According to a survey conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center, a total of 7.5 percent of students reported being harassed online in 2009.