Digital Smarts - Bullying Transparency

Terry Heick’s recent article on Edutopia about bullying and cyberbullying, Transparency: Bullying Redefined and Identified, is a must read for teachers and parents alike. The piece reminds readers that bullying is not an “it,” but instead is both a symptom and an output of what is happening far beyond the walls of our schools. Heick makes a most interesting point worth remembering: “If nothing else, it might be helpful to somewhat ‘normalize’ being bullied -- not to make it acceptable, but to remove the stigma from it. Everyone, at some point, has been bullied. There is no reason for shame -- only transparency.” That certainly is a perspective worth inserting into the conversation.