Timing: 25 minutes
Learning outcomes: learners will be able to…
- Identify key members of the community who can provide support with cyberbullying problems.
Key vocabulary: community, support, assistance, upstander, responsibility, trust, responding
Resources: Google Slides, Circles of Action worksheet (slide 5)
Key questions:
- If you had a problem, who could you turn to…
- …inside school?
- …outside school?
- …online?
- Who would you ask for help if you were being cyberbullied?
- Why?
- What actions would you expect them to take?
- Who would you ask for help if someone else was being cyberbullied?
- Why?
- What actions would you expect them to take?
- Which members of your community could help prevent cyberbullying?
- What actions would you want them to take?
- What role do you think you play in your group/community to help prevent or respond to cyberbullying?
- E.g. someone who directly intervenes/mediates, someone who can seek help for others, someone who gives advice, someone who shows empathy and listens to the target, etc.
PLEASE READ THESE DOCUMENTS BEFORE STARTING THE ACTIVITY
Starter activity (5 minutes)
Explain to young people that this session is about identifying the key members of their community (either online or offline) who can help to prevent or respond to cyberbullying, and the actions they could take to do this.
Ask young people to make a list of all the people who might be able to help them (or provide help to another young person) if cyberbullying was taking place. Encourage them to think of people who provide help in school and in settings outside of school (e.g. youth groups, sports clubs, family, etc.). Are there other people that can help them online (e.g. members of a gaming group, online friends/acquaintances, organisations, etc.)?
Note: You may wish to complete or refer to the activity ‘A Helping Hand’ to help young people in creating their lists.
Share and discuss the lists – are there people who are common to everyone’s lists (e.g. named teachers/staff members, youth group leaders, etc.)?
Activity (15 minutes)
Using slide 5, show young people the ‘Circles of action’ worksheet. Explain that they should consider the people on their list and add them to the concentric circles based on how much support and action they think those people can provide in a cyberbullying situation.
They should start by writing their own name in the centre circle, then adding the names of other people based on how much help/support they can give – those who can provide the greatest support should be placed in the circles surrounding the centre circle, those who can provide less support should be placed in the outer circles.
Remind young people that placing a person in an outer circle doesn’t suggest that person can’t help them; they may still be able to offer help that others cannot!
Once they have filled their circles, ask young people to add some actions to each circle that those particular people could take, or the support they could offer (e.g. a person in an inner circle might be able to help with the removal of a bully’s comments online, enable support services such as counselling for the person targeted and/or hold the bully’s accountable for their actions).
They should also fill in the centre circle with actions they could take to prevent and respond to cyberbullying (either aimed at them or another person).
Young people may also wish to consider the following:
- Drawing a line to bisect the circle, then using one side to list actions that help prevent cyberbullying, and the other side to list actions that help respond to cyberbullying.
- Drawing a line to bisect the circle, then using one side to list actions that these people could take online, and the other side to list actions they could take offline.
Redraw the circle and complete the activity in reverse, labelling each circle with a specific action then plotting the names to the circles to identify how each person could help. A person’s name could appear in multiple circles to indicate the different ways they could provide support.
Plenary (5 minutes)
Encourage young people to share their ‘Circles of action’ and compare their suggestions.
Ask them to consider what role they believe they play in a community in preventing or responding to cyberbullying.
For educators
Take time to investigate who in your school/organisation is responsible for dealing with cyberbullying incidents. Ensure that you are familiar with any anti-bullying policies as well as the procedures for logging and reporting cyberbullying incidents in your school/organisation.
Consider how you could advise learners and their parents/carers about who they can turn to for help with cyberbullying issues. You may wish to include this information on your school website or share it through communication channels you use to contact learners and their families (such as newsletters, emails and social media).