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Protection de la vie privée

It's cool to be kind

Walking the walk

Children discuss how kids can model behavior for adults, too.

Goals

Reflect on the online behavior of adults.

Consider how the way adults act can model behavior for younger generations.

Let's talk

What adults can teach kids – and what kids can teach adults! Itʼs important to teach kindness. But itʼs just as important to model the thematics of kindness that we teach. There are plenty of examples of how bullying and harassment arenʼt just issues for kids. Just look at how adults sometimes treat each other online, in the news media, or in traffic jams.  

Weʼve been talking about how important it is to be kind to your classmates and friends online and off. Have you ever seen adults act meanly toward each other, in your everyday life or in the media? Have you seen adults bullying each other? (Remember, we donʼt need to name names – letʼs just talk about the behaviors.)  

Do you think your generation can build an Internet thatʼs kinder and more positive than the environments some adults have created for themselves? (A lot of adults think youʼll probably be better at this too.)  

Do you think some kids start bullying or making unkind comments because they see adults around them or in the news doing these things? Yes to all the above? Please give examples. What would YOU do instead – how would you be a better role model for adults?

Takeaway

How you and your friends treat each other online will have a big impact on the digital world your generation builds – not to mention the offline world too

Vocabulary 

Bullying

Purposefully mean behavior that is usually repeated. The person being targeted often has a hard time defending themselves.

Cyberbullying

Bullying that happens online or through using digital devices.

Harassment

A more general term than bullying that can take many forms – pestering, annoying, intimidating, humiliating, etc. – and can happen online too.

Conflict

An argument or disagreement that isn’t necessarily repeated.

Aggressor

The person doing the harassing or bullying; though sometimes called the “bully,” bullying prevention experts advise never to label people as such.

Target

The person being bullied or victimized.

Bystander

A witness to harassment or bullying who recognizes the situation but chooses not to intervene.

Upstander

A witness to harassment or bullying who supports the target privately or publicly, sometimes including trying to stop and/or report the incident they witnessed.

Amplify

To increase or widen participation or impact.

Exclusion

A form of harassment or bullying used online and offline; often referred to as “social exclusion”.

Block

A way to end all interaction with another person online, preventing them from accessing your profile, sending you messages, seeing your posts, etc., without notifying them (not always ideal in bullying situations where the target wants to know what the aggressor is saying or when the bullying has stopped).

Mute

Less final than blocking, muting is a way to stop seeing another person’s posts, comments, etc., in your social media feed when that communication gets annoying – without notifying that person or being muted from their feed (not helpful in bullying).

Anonymous

An unnamed or unknown person – someone online whose name or identity you don’t know.

Trolling

Posting or commenting online in a way that is deliberately cruel, offensive, or provocative.

Report abuse

Using a social media service’s online tools or system to report harassment, bullying, threats, and other harmful content that typically violates the service’s terms of service or community standards.