Cyberbullying

This week I will not write a silly happy blog about fun activities or reflections. Rather I will focus on a topic that is rarely discussed yet according to statistics it is becoming more and more frequent.

Cyberbullying is the act of harming or harassing via information technology networks in a repeated and deliberate manner. According to U.S. Legal Definitions, "cyber-bullying could be limited to posting rumors or gossips about a person in the internet bringing about hatred in other’s minds; or it may go to the extent of personally identifying victims and publishing materials severely defaming and humiliating them."

^It is becoming  so frequent in schools across the globe that there have been several organizations formed with a goal of informing students that this is a crime as well as preventing it as much as possible. In United States there is a Cyberbullying Research Center and in the UK a non-profit cyberbullying association informs parents, teachers and students themselves about this very serious issue.

Please visit such pages as http://www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying/ or http://cyberbullying.org/ in order to futher educate and possibly help a child, your child or any child better cope with this issue.

From Red, Pimpled Faces to Troublemakers Taking on the World

Today, in my G2 class we had a listening exercise about ageing in UK. At one point, it said that “women live longer in UK than men.” After the listening exercise, I asked my students if they think that is true and why. Their response was “women have easier jobs, for example teaching.” I have to admit that I wasn’t very happy with that answer and I am sure that my face expressed that – mostly because my lesson prior to this one was with the notorious G3 class – where once again I had to repeat myself about 3 times and tell each individual student at least once to stop talking, put away their phone, open the book etc. (In other words, a spectacle I hope I don’t experience again.)

Now, of course I prefer my job… to almost any other job that there is and certainly think it is much easier than digging ditches or hauling bricks… but to hear someone hint that my job is easy is more than annoying… exasperating… infuriating… maddening…(you get the idea, right?)

So, dear students, I am going to tell you why our jobs as teachers are actually at least challenging if not hard. Is it the long hours of sitting at home preparing worksheets, researching best teaching material? Nope. Is it strain of standing in front of grumpy, sleepy and hormonal teenagers? Nope. Is it the lingering evenings spent on grading papers and reading often very amusing and at times monotonous answers? Nope. Not even the abundant trips to stationary shops to buy colored pens and stickers make it.

So, what is it?

You come to us as inexperienced young kids, naïve and willing to do everything we say. In a matter of few years, you mutate into young men and women that have their own peculiar opinions and are ready to take on the world. When I say that you are ready, I mean you are ready – a force to be recon with. And in those couple of years we (teachers) learn to like you, we learn to respect you and we learn to teach you the best we can. Call me sentimental, maybe it is the end of the year nostalgia that is coming over me, or maybe today I’ve looked at the faces of my G2 and G3 students and thought to myself “we teachers see you daily, we talk to you and we laugh with you” and in a way it is very hard to acknowledge that your red, pimpled faces one day will walk away and will never turn around … and only a small glimmer of hope burns in us that something we said will stay with you and help you take on that world. 

So to all the red, pimpled students taking on the world this year (in a week as a matter of fact), on behalf of all the teachers, I would like to wish you all the best of luck and fulfillment in your life. It is your life, cherish it and make the best of it.

And here is one of all time favorites - just for you.