DUCC<\/a> (Developing & Using Critical Comprehension), a digital literacy program for elementary-aged students.<\/p>\n\u201cIf you\u2019re over 30 (years old), this is a new language to understand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Overall, the new state regulations are a good idea, said Justin Patchin, co-founder of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a criminal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something most schools are already doing,\u201d Patchin said. \u201cThe concern is, what is the nature of that information? Is it evidence-based? Is it fear-based? You want to make sure you\u2019re providing children evidence-based information so they can make decisions online.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patchin\u2019s center maintains a glossary of social media terms, and tracks the most popular social media apps.<\/p>\n
But can adults keep up with the latest trends?<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, they can\u2019t,\u201d Patchin said. \u201cI live and breathe this stuff and I have a hard time keeping up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patchin recommends schools allow a staff member adequate time to educate themselves on social media trends.<\/p>\n
Another issue is how schools define bullying or cyberbullying. New Jersey uses a similar law to what Pennsylvania will implement, but some Garden State schools have reported zero instances of bullying during the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible. Bullying is happening,\u201d Patchin said. \u201cThat tells me they\u2019re defining bullying in a way that\u2019s so narrow, or they\u2019re not recognizing it as a problem. Because of this mandate, schools will feel they\u2019re under a microscope. But schools need to do research to find out how much bullying or cyberbullying is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Candice Biernesser is a co-director of Pitt\u2019s SPARC-Life Center, a research facility that studies and works to prevent adolescent suicide risk. She also views the new state regulations as a net positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives a lever to pull this into professional development meetings, and to have training, and to have resources offered by the state on this topic,\u201d Biernesser said. \u201cWe also recognize that educators are asked to do more and more each year, constantly, and I do think about what that looks like for them in terms of implementing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Carlynton School District, which encompasses Carnegie, Rosslyn Farms and Crafton boroughs, social media literacy is embedded into middle and high school curriculum, said Assistant Superintendent Jeff Taylor.<\/p>\n
Lessons focus on digital citizenship, online safety and responsible use of technology. Resources and training are provided to staff, he said. The district also has a cyberbullying policy, where incidents are investigated and parents are notified, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re reviewing the new state requirements and will be updating our programming and policies this fall to ensure full compliance, including tracking and reporting as mandated,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
Bullying \u2018in a more fluid way\u2019<\/p>\n
For the most part, the apps themselves don\u2019t matter, Patchin said. What does matter is how they\u2019re being used.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeneral behaviors are the same \u2014 hurtful comments, or rumors spreading,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s becoming more frequent and there needs to be more efforts against it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And now more than ever, consequences can be deadly. Multiple lawsuits nationwide accuse social media companies of curating online algorithms targeted youth, leading to depression and suicide. In 2024, a 13-year-old boy from Shippensburg died by suicide after becoming the victim of an online financial sextortion scam.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids are experiencing more anxiety and depression in the last four, five years than previously, and it\u2019s hard to say why,\u201d Patchin said. \u201cWe\u2019re hearing about more cases with suicidal thoughts, but whether they\u2019re related to cyberbullying or bullying, it\u2019s hard to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bullying existed before social media, but now \u201cmoves in a more fluid way\u201d thanks to social media, Biernesser said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s data to indicate that this kind of online environment, when you don\u2019t have the ability to always see the person\u2019s facial expressions, how they\u2019re interacting, or the tone of their voice, is what they refer to as cue absence,\u201d she said. \u201cThat can sometimes result in harsher bullying experiences, and that\u2019s part of the complexities that we see online.\u201d<\/p>\n
And one click can flurry a string of more negative content, and connections to bad actors, through the algorithms. The rise of artificial intelligence can rapidly distribute manipulated or distorted images.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeep fakes are very easy to create. We know social media is being used to pull children into spaces. Gaming platforms are grooming children into platforms. Child sexual abuse material is being created so prolifically and we can\u2019t keep up with it,\u201d said Pitt\u2019s Nelson. \u201cBut to simply say let\u2019s shut it all down is shortsighted. This is now the life of children and adolescents. We have to figure out what the positives are.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is the solution?<\/p>\n
State law has required schools to have behavior and threat assessment teams to identify and assess students whose behavior may be a threat to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to be digging deeply into what their online footprint is and how they\u2019re engaging in online spaces,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cFor teachers to teach this, they have to ask explicit questions, but this is where it becomes a shared responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teens can cope online by curating a positive online environment and having supportive conversations with people they trust, Biernesser said. But that\u2019s easier said than done.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a national survey with over 1,000 teens, and asked them about experiences related to cyberbullying, and how they sought help,\u201d Biernesser said. \u201cAbout 80% of them said they never told any trusted adult in their life at all \u2014 not a parent, not a teacher, not anyone. We need more spaces to have an opportunity for teens and young people to talk about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schools should implement feedback from students when revising their policies, Biernesser said. Conversation starters can be as simple as: Can you explain this to me? What are some ways that social media has been good or bad for you?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not picking up a piece of paper and reading off bullet points of a policy, but opening dialogues and thinking about a positive school climate in a way that can foster comfort in believing this is a safe space,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The new regulations won\u2019t stop bullying or cyberbullying, but it could reduce how often it occurs, Patchin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBullying and cyberbullying don\u2019t become a significant problem unless it\u2019s happening for a while,\u201d he said. \u201cHow will parents and schools respond in the early stages to get it to stop?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is no place where millions of children \u2014 many of them largely unsupervised \u2014 gather in greater…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-256571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}