Cyberbullying: Education in digital ethics and digital citizenship as a framework for prevention

The concepts of digital citizenship, and digital ethics are ever evolving, but still lag behind the burgeoning communication technologies (Buchanan, 2019).

Cyberbullying is an example of how our understandings of the effects of digital communication lags behind the technology. Cyberbullying has been prevalent virtually since the inception of mass communication platforms, however, our understandings of how it impacts individuals and society is still developing. What is now understood, is that the misuse of digital communication can have a profound effect on adolescent individuals and has been linked to suicidal ideation (Hamm et al., 2015). It is clear that as teachers, we play a role in educating children in how to protect their wellbeing and limit their exposure to negative influences (Redmond et al., 2018). Educating students and their parents about the development of responsible digital citizenship, as well as developing higher order digital ethics and critical thinking, can help to safeguard children, protect their wellbeing, and provide them with strategies to deal with negative experiences. The concept map below demonstrates how education in digital ethics and citizenship are central to prevention of cyberbullying.

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