*
What’s Going On?
Children, tweens, and teens—unfortunately—have always had to deal with bullying and drama. We did, our parents did, our grandparents did…and so on. Traditional in-person bullying and drama still exists.
But our youth today also have to deal with bullying and drama online now because of how connected they have become with each other through technology. They have more avenues of staying connected than us, through texts, emails, online gaming, video chat and of course, social media.
These are fertile grounds for conflicts to arise, and a perfect tool for bullies to hide behind anonymity of user names and target people.
As we continue to live both online and offline, we must teach our children to handle conflict and strangers well. Because of the scale of the internet, there’s a lot of scope of digital drama to unfold around us in the form of mean comments, rude replies and in the worst case cyberbullying.
*
What Is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is the use of digital tools—computers, cellphones, ipads/tablets—to intentionally upset or harass another person. The most common examples of cyberbullying are sending hurtful messages, posting embarrassing or inappropriate photos/videos, and spreading rumors online. The bullying often happens repeatedly.
Let’s look at bullying by definition of what it is:
There are four “tests” for behavior to be considered bullying, which can be remembered by the acronym PAIN.
For it to be bullying it must:
P – reflect an imbalance of Power- the person engaging in bullying has a real or perceived power over the person being bullied (i.e. age, size, popularity, role, group, etc.)
A – be Aggressive – (including various forms of aggression: physical, emotional, relational)
I – be Intentional – in person or via social media (cyberbullying)
N – occur Numerous times (Repetitive)
*
Cyberbullying On the Rise in U.S. Schools, Federal Report Finds:
According to a Cyberbullying Research Center report of Jan, 2018, 34% of kids ages 12 to 17 are victims of cyberbullying. 66% of cyberbullied teens had at least one suicide risk factor: hopelessness, lack of meaning, loss of interest in life. (Twenge, 2017). Read more on such news HERE.
*

School Bullies Meme
*
What Is Digital Drama?
Digital drama can be a series of things happening once in a while or constantly in the lives of our children and teens. Some children can be mean and try to ignore your comments or friend requests. Sometimes children can be kicked out of conversations for no apparent fault of their and added into old conversations that they know nothing about.
Digital drama is often relatively harmless, but sometimes with sensitive children and with children suffering with low self-esteem, it can get out of hand fairly quickly. Digital drama is the word that describes the everyday interaction/verbal exchanges of friends online. What might start off as innocent banter can quickly escalate and spread as dangerous rumors.
*
How To Stop Cyberbullying And Digital Drama:
Talk with your students about these topics and emphasize following four steps.
1) Stop—if there appears to be cyberbullying or even digital drama, tell your student to step away from his or her digital device. “Take a Break.”
2) Tell. Reassure your student that you love and support them, and that they should come talk to you—or another trusted adult—with any concerns.
3) Save. Print out comments or screen shot the disturbing material.
4) Block. Block the bully on the digital device to prevent him or her from texting/e-mailing/posting to your student.
As with anything in life, keeping an open communication channel with our children is key. Maintaining an ongoing and honest dialogue with them about cyberbullying and digital drama is necessary to ensure they thrive in the digital world of friends and strangers.
*
Help With Bullying Online And Off:
Click here for RESOURCES
* * *
About The Article Author:
Our mission with FutureSTRONG Academy – to grow children who respect themselves, their time and their capabilities in a world where distractions are just a click or a swipe away.
I see myself as an advocate for bringing social, emotional and character development to families, schools and communities. I never want to let this idea out of my sight – Our children are not just GPAs. I’m a Writer and a Certified Master Coach in NLP and CBT. Until 2017, I was also a Big Data Scientist. In December of 2044, I hope to win the Nobel. Namasté.
Write to me or call me. Tell me what support from me looks like.
Rachana Nadella-Somayajula,
Program Director & Essential Life Skills Coach for Kids and Busy Parents
The Digital Literacy Project: Disrupting humanity’s technology addiction habits one truth at a time.

Truth About Technology – A Digital Literacy Project
Effective Parenting 101: For Parents And Children Of The Technology World
* For parenting to be effective, we need to first understand and adjust our mindset. What are our fears for our children, do we love them for who they are or what they're capable of becoming? What do we truly want as parents? Let's look at a few things we do...
How To Use AI In Education – For Teachers And Students – Part II
* Continued From Part I: Find it HERE. * QUESTION III: What are some ways that educators can integrate Al in their STEM teaching? Please give specific ideas and examples. Sometimes, tools that we as teachers want to use might be blocked by the...
How To Use AI In Education – For Teachers And Students
* QUESTION I: How has Al made an impact in K-12 education in general and in your learning environment specifically? AI is helping us take a critical look at how we're doing things and also is helping us by taking some load off of us. Let's dive in. AI is so new...
Everything You Need To Understand The Relevance Of STEM Education For Our Future Generations
* What Is STEM? According to Live Science, STEM is a combination of four academic disciplines: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These are critical to a child’s education and later adult development. While children tend to believe that...
GPA Might Help Make A Living But Teens Need Life Skills To Make A Great Life
* Here’s a checklist of all the life skills a high schooler must be exposed to before he or she is sent off to college. Why a checklist? High achieving youth are fast becoming the biggest “at-risk” group of the world. With a weak resilience muscle and a lack of...
The Surgeon General Says Loneliness Can Kill. Here’s What We Can Do About It. {Video}
* https://youtu.be/0GjHmfVJWAM * Want To Listen To The Article Instead? * Cited Works: ...
Our New Coworkers Are Not Humans. They Are Humanoids – Apollo And Benzie.
* https://youtu.be/pvB_HLJEQ9s * Want To Listen To The Article Instead? * Cited Works: https://nypost.com/2023/09/05/apollo-the-humanoid-robot-starts-moving-boxes-in-warehouses/ ...
She Found Porn At 10. Her Mom Knew Nothing About It. {Video}
* https://youtu.be/GvRJfkE928M * Want To Listen To The Article Instead? * Cited Works: The Impact of Pornography on Children's Minds: Main Article: https://www.thefp.com/p/why-are-our-fourth-graders-on-pornhub Other Cited Works:...
Hiding In Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness Documentary – A Review Part III
* Part II: Continued from PART II HERE. * Signs Of Mental Health Issues: For some anxiety can be the "force that's pushing me about everything that's wrong." Then there's the sexual assault horrors that we are made aware of. "My ex boyfriend...
Hiding In Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness Documentary – A Review Part II
* Part I: Continued from PART I HERE. * Kids And Teens Speak Up: Kids and adolescents deal with mental health challenges differently. Kids want to isolate, and not tell anyone. Because in their little brains, things can be confusing and if...
Hiding In Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness Documentary – A Review
* Sierra Nevada As A Witness: On the lookout point called Mirador de San Nicolás, I stood on the side waiting for someone to click a picture of our family. Our backdrop would be the Alhambra (one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture located in...
The Work Trends Of The Decade Along With Important Timeless Trends
* The Evolution Of Work: The workforce is going to be impacted by three major areas of change and growth. Workforce transformation: From Baby boomers to Gen Z, there are many generations now in the workforce working next to each other. Tech modernization And...
Do We Really Need Parenting Lessons? Aren’t We All Natural?
* The Short Answer, Yes. Read along. * Life Back Then: Emotionally available parents Less choices and options Clearly defined expectations Summer jobs and daily chores Adequate sleep and less processed food Movement and outdoors Creative play,...
Our True Nature Is Bliss To Begin With. So, How Do We End Up With Strifes, Wars, And Revolutions?
* Here's an amusing fact about our lives. The intent behind every act of ours is either in anticipation of permanent relief or temporary alleviation of some sorrow. It's funny, isn't it? At a personal level when something or someone is giving us grief, it's...
From Training To Testing: A Love Letter To The Child Going Off To College
* I timed this, it's a 6 minute read. You're moving away. And here I am, while you are packing to leave, watching videos of drunk people doing dumb shit. All the while wondering what pressures you will have to succumb to as a freshman. At the same time, I tell...
Sitting Is The New Smoking. Time To Pay Attention.
* When sitting, the electrical activity in our leg muscles shuts off, calorie consumption drops to one per minute, enzymes breaking down fat decrease by 90 percent and good cholesterol drops by approximately ten percent per hour of sitting. Sounds pretty...
A Text / Tech Neck Can Have Life Long Consequences. It’s Time To Correct It.
* What’s A Text / Tech Neck? Wikipedia identifies the most painful physical side effect of mobile use. Text neck is the term used to describe the neck pain and damage sustained from looking down at your cell phone, tablet, or other wireless devices too...
Parents, When It Comes To Getting Your Way, Words Matter
* If it was upto our children, they would eat pizza for breakfast, play with the water hose all afternoon and eat cookies and milk for dinner. They won't compare themselves to anyone and they don't worry about anyone judging them. That's how simple their...
Questions, just ask!
Text or Call: 678.310.5025 | Email: info@futurestrongacademy.com
Bringing a Group? Email us for a special price!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks