High+School+Counseling


 * Guided Questions for Language Arts/Physical Science Classes**

- Getting “mean” comments from friends (1111 - Sexting (10th grade) - Being misinterpreted with a text, email or online post - Dealing with youtube video / bullying - How to protect self in public chat rooms
 * 1) A lot of issues were presented this morning.**
 * What did you see that you could relate to?**

- Social networks – what you post - Bullying and how to respond - How can we have everyone feel safe and valued at our high school?
 * What topics presented are important to you?**

- Gossip is the only visible problem at UA causing drama - Hear about more than see. Stay away from - Nothing is really ever done about it; everyone knows the "repeat offenders" - Happens to females more than males
 * Do you see these issues here at school?**

- cyberbullying can lead to suicide/depression (11 - lose opportunities – college admission and scholarships, jobs (111 - trouble with parents, govt., school - no control over what is seen or read - removed from sports teams - suspension/expulsion from school (11 - get arrested if you talk about illegal things (11 - activities in photos could get you in trouble - you could hurt someone - affect your family - on-line predators/stalkers (11 - you can get bullied or become harassed yourself - lose respect from others/lose friends - colleges see (11 - facebook/twitter/texts can be used easily to attack people (11
 * 2) List examples of how digital media can have significant consequences.**


 * 3) What topics/issues may have been missed at the assembly that should be talked about?**

- Fake twitter accounts about gossip similar to facebook pages - Stereotyping or making up an idea of a person based on how they dress/who they hang out with - cyberbullying is easier to do because then you can do it without looking and doing it straight to their face - Twitter is becoming more of an issue; many adults don't use it (11) - How students can react to a bullying situation - use humor, walk away, report it to an adult - Gossip is just a part of life; most adults do it too - People cross the line into bullying but they say "I was just teasing" - What should we do when a stranger approaches us online or if someone keeps "being mean" - What privacy settings should we have? - What is legal versus illegal? - What rights do teenagers have? - Teen suicide

- kids can easily access anyone in the entire world thanks to the internet - social websites make it very easy to bash someone - only "react" when there is a serious threat - "no one wants to be the student who tells an adult and gets things blown out of proportion"
 * What do adults need to know about?**

- watch out with who you hang out with. Some people don’t care what they post and some would be embarrassed if people saw. - Group bullying - Bullying as retaliation - No flat out bullying – all under cover “smart” comments - Sexting is an underclassmen issue - Bullying needs to be addressed more - temptation to meet other people - Teachers using humor or sarcasm and hurting student feelings or embarrassing them in front of the class
 * What issues do you see here that need addressed?**

- Usually don’t want adults to interfere with our situations since we feel like it makes our situations worse. Even though adults would actually help in getting rid of the cyberbully, the situation would also cause people to look at us differently since we need our parents/adults to stand behind. - Adults should talk with teens and help them in making decisions, but should not make decisions/act for them unless there is physical danger/harm or if the teen asks for help. Though safety comes first, it is also important for a teen to not feel humiliated. (111 - Adults should monitor what their kids are doing (1111 - Adults should not punish / impose consequences but respond calmly and guide, monitor students - Understand twitter bullying - Know signs of someone being bullied and ask them and offer help - Issue here is texting mean comments - Talk to their teen - Talk to parents of teen they have problems with
 * 4) What should adults do to prevent/stop cyberbullying?**
 * How do you want them to respond?**

- Saying mean things to others (11 - Cyberbullying - Gossip - Racism is a big problem (look at all African Americans as the “same”) - Yes there is cyberbullying and regular bullying here - Yes; people have more courage to say things online since they aren't face to face and don't witness the consequences - become passive, desensitized
 * 5) Have you witnessed cyberbullying? Or just bullying?**

- feel hurt - feel insecure about their image - embarrassed but can’t do do anything about because it is already out there
 * How was the person being bullied affected?**

- real bullying would get involved and stop, but not cyber - don’t get involved – not your issue What might prevent you from getting involved? - afraid of also getting into trouble (11 - don’t want to escalate it even further and make the situation worse - comments you see may be taken out of context and you don’t have the full story. - ignore and it will go away
 * Did you get involved, why or why not?**

- get involved so no one hurts themselves or someone else (11 - stop people from being mean and stand up for others - prevent future bullying
 * Why would it be important to de-escalate cruelty when you witness these events?**

- face to face is more personal; more careful or what and how you say something - digital you can hide your feelings better, easier to mis-communicate - autocorrect - people not logging out of facebook and people taking over their page and writing negative “funny” things - Easier to say hurtful things without thinking - Serious vs. joking tone of voice (11 - More emotion face to face - Missing tone and expressions that help understand - Bullying is easier online - Someone coming off as mean but they are not - When done face to face less is said - Online more confidence to say mean things, protected by screen - Could be done in “joking” tone but can’t tell - Could think something is about you even though it might not be - more opportunities to be misunderstood
 * 6) How is communication different when done face to face versus through digital media?**

How can things be misinterpreted? Have you had misunderstandings through texting/facebook, etc?