Ministry takes steps to
deal with “cyber-bullying” in Czech classrooms
A The use of mobile phones
in classrooms and schools has become a serious issue in the Czech Republic,
with ever more children recording their classmates and even teachers, and posting
the footage on the web. The Education Ministry has now, for the first time,
recognized the issue of cyber-bullying, and has come up with guidelines to help
schools control the use of mobile phones and other technology.
B A video posted on the Internet
in June this year shows a Czech teacher telling a pupil off for having a messy
desk. The student talks back, which makes the teacher lose his temper and smack
the boy, who then storms out of the classroom. Another clip posted on the web
shows a group of students bullying their teacher who ends up with a trash bin
on his head. Schools around the Czech
Republic have
increasingly had to cope with what is known as cyber-bullying – students
recording clips of their abusive behaviour and posting them on the web.
The Education Ministry is now taking steps to deal with the problem, issuing a
set of guide-lines designed to bring the use of modern technology in schools
under control.
C Tomáš Bouška, a spokesman
for the Education Ministry, says: “We
simply have to face the reality. And the reality is very simple – we have
mobile phones and we have all kinds of electronic devices which the kids can
use at schools and they also use them. And the school has to react to it
because in a number of cases, the use of electronic devices was very
problematic.”
D The ministry has
recognized the term cyber-bullying for the first time; the new guidelines tell
teachers what cyber-bullying is, and advise them on various ways of curbing the issue. “What we have defined in this methodological
instruction is electronic bullying; e-mail or text message bullying as well
as further usage of these footages on the Internet. It’s about bullying
teachers or schoolmates with video or audio footage which can even be used to blackmail
somebody.”
E Many schools have adopted
rules limiting the use of mobile phones during lessons. But only half of the
schoolchildren at such schools respect these rules. Teachers often have no way
of enforcing them. Tomáš Bouška says different approaches will be open to teachers
under the new guidelines. “Teachers
can forbid, and if the kids are still using them, they can inform the parents.
They can also take the mobile phones away. And if it still goes on, there are
also some harsher steps included in our guidelines which could even involve the
police.”
Adjusted to (1)
curb – omezit
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to
a paragraph.
1 Examples of cyber-bullying
2 Restrictions in use of mobile phones
3 Introduction
4 Instructions on cyber-bullying prevention
5 Electronic devices at school
2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1 How are mobile phones misused at school?
2 What kinds of cyber-bullying are mentioned in the
text?
3 How does the Ministry of Education react to the
problem?
4 How can schools and teachers protect themselves?
5 What could be done in case of ignoring the rules?
3) Explain the following words and phrases.
1 posting the footage
2 abusive behaviour
3 electronic
device
4 methodological
instruction
5 blackmail
4) Answer the following questions.
What examples of cyber-bullying do you know? What steps
would you take in case of being bullied? What should a child do? Who can help a
person who is cyber-bullied? What might be caused by cyber-bullying?
Video:
Tips, sources of information:
Source:
(1)
RICHTER,
Jan. Linka bezpečí marks 20 years of helping children. Český rozhlas [online].
2008 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at:
http://radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/ministry-takes-steps-to-deal-with-cyber-bullying-in-czech-classrooms
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