According to a recent report in South Carolina Public Radio, more states across the USA are starting to allow students to take mental health days off. This should ring alarm bells for schools and governing bodies, whose responsibility it is to protect the youngsters in their care.
Cyberbullying is an insidious issue and one that parents and teachers find hard to regulate. Aside from education establishments teaching youths how to protect themselves online, parents need to do more to monitor their children.
Youngsters Need to be Educated About Staying Safe Online
The internet is now ubiquitous, with billions of people all over the world able to enter the same online spaces no matter where they are. There are plenty of benefits to this, but it also brings about a lot of dangers. There are malicious people using this technology, and all internet users should know how to use this amazing technology safely.
There is a lot of information about how to stay safe online for people who know where to find it. Having the right social media privacy settings in place is crucial, and people should know how to limit who can see what on their profiles. It can also be a wise idea to have multiple accounts so you can show things to different audiences.
Schools should make sure they spend time teaching students about the risks involved in exploring the online world. However, this topic is not currently a staple in the national curriculum. There are programs out there, but it's up to individual schools to implement them.
Some States have Pushed for Greater Parental Controls on Social Media
Among members of Generation Z, accessing social media is the most common pastime on the internet. Users spend endless hours on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, and it is almost impossible for parents to check what they are doing all the time.
For this reason, there has been talk of parents being given more control over what their children can do online. In Connecticut, Attorney General William Tong has urged the powers that be behind social media platforms to give parents the ability to keep tabs on their children's usage of these apps. This would give them a chance to stamp out problems before they become serious issues.
The Problem Could Spiral if Steps Aren't Taken Now
There's a strong chance that cyberbullying could spiral out of control if steps aren't taken to eradicate it now. Youngsters are going to be spending more and more time online in the future, especially when virtual reality goes mainstream and the metaverse grows in stature.
Indeed, in the next decade, it's likely that a lot of schooling will occur online within VR worlds. At this time, cyberbullying could become more of an issue than the regular bullying that already occurs in schools.
Educators and parents in South Carolina need to do everything they can to reduce the instances of cyberbullying wherever possible. If measures aren't taken now, it could be an even bigger issue in the future.
