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Alex Young Win Cottle ENG 150 14 April 2021 The Eradication of Cyberbulling The digital world has become vast so fast that it seems many members of society took off their moral compass’s as they entered this new digital world. From personal experience, the online gaming community commonly uses the term “toxic” when people begin screaming or bullying another player on their own team or the opposing team. This outburst of “toxicity” may involve swearing, racial slurs, and demoralizing comments. I personally have fell victim to such cyberbullying, which bring feelings of anger, inadequacy, and fear. Being older these feelings quickly subside and don’t greatly affect me, but what if the victim of such online bullying is just a kid? Someone younger may not be able to adequately handle such attacks. The assailant usually does not know the victims age, race, gender, or sexuality so certain verbal attacks could be highly emotionally harmful to some people. This is one of many examples of cyberbullying. One way to begin eradicating cyberbullying in society is through the education of good digital citizenship. Digital citizenship can be defined as: The responsible use of technology by anyone using digital devices to engage with society. The keyword here is responsible, this includes moral responsibility, and for the case of this essay; being responsible for your behavior and understanding the way it may affect others. To properly address the problem of cyberbullying and leaving your moral compass behind when you enter the digital world citizens must be educated on how to be good digital citizens. Although this may be a hard task it will eventually evolve into a normal part of a young person’s education and parents will also begin to teach digital citizenship at home. Middle-school and high

school educators must begin to integrate digital citizenship education into their curriculum. Since cyberbullying is considered “bad” digital citizenship, teaching moral education, character education, and personally responsible citizenship will begin to rot the roots of the tree that has grown from neglecting the education of not only digital citizenship but also citizenship in general. In many families both parents work and are commonly not educated when it comes to digital citizenship. This means that more than ever the responsibility of educating our youth comes down to the school system and the administrators involved. To begin eradicating cyberbullying and have a society of good digital citizens middle-school and high school educators/administrators should begin introducing curriculum and teachers focusing on moral education, character education, and personally responsible citizenship. First, young teens who participate in curriculum that incorporates moral education will be less likely to be involved in acts of cyberbullying, making the digital world and the real world a society we all feel safe and comfortable in. Therefore, middle-school and high school administrators should include digital citizenship in their curriculum. Moral education is important to cultivate good character attributes in youth which will make our society become a healthier place online and offline. James Q. Wilson, political science professor at UCLA and Harvard, as well as the author of “The Moral Sense” has done a lot of research on moral education. In fact, “Technology, narcissism, and the moral sense: implications for instruction,” an article from the British Journal of Educational Technology, states “In the context of Wilson’s research, it is clear that teachers should consider addressing moral education intentionally by providing learners strategies that foster the cultivation of moral sentiments. In particular educational technology is among the more effective tools in engendering the development of sympathy, duty, fairness, and self-control in the classroom” (Ryan, et al. 117). The development of such attributes can be highly beneficial when it comes to stopping cyberbullying, and in the process of

educating youth in all aspects of digital citizenship. It is quite clear that a cyberbully and a bully in general lacks these traits, and the more people that cultivate a strong moral compass the better our chances of eliminating the irresponsible acts of verbal assault in the digital world. If middle-school and high school administrators incorporate moral education into their curriculum the digital world will be a safer, healthier place, where society can flourish together. Second, tweens and teens in middle-school and high school who are involved in curriculum that encompasses character education have the potential to foster traits such as respect, understanding, and academic success. Administrators focus highly on academic success this is one of the reasons digital citizenship education may have been neglected across the world and is being adopted so slowly. Research is showing though that if students are taught digital citizenship and specifically character education, they may have more academic success. In the article “Character Development” this is proven when it is written, “Barring a major shift in priorities, the future of character education appears to hinge on the evaluation of it’s potential for reducing school violence, drug use, teen pregnancy, disrespect, and prejudice; and improving school climate, student discipline, school safety, intercultural understanding, and academic achievement” (“Character Development” 261). The list of potential benefits here is quite long, and even if just a few things on this list were achieved from curriculum being implemented it would help society conquer the issue of cyberbullying. For example, bullying in general is disrespectful, a form of violence, it makes places feel unsafe, and when racial slurs are used it lacks understanding how your words might make another race/culture feel. These all are clearly potential benefits from character education. Therefore, if middle-school and high school administrators incorporate character education into their curriculum not only will it begin removing the problem of cyberbullying, but also increase the academic achievement for their students.

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