I like to stay in touch with friends I made in New Zealand during my terms as school principal there, and this sometimes brings news of interesting changes. One of these changes appeared in the “Wairarapa Times-Age” newspaper on February 23.
Wairarapa College, a secondary school on New Zealand’s North Island, put out a warning recently that students who use text messages to bully other students will have their cell phones confiscated on the spot.
In a great show of character, this New Zealand high school principal exercised the courage of his convictions, deciding to ban all use of cell phones during the school day. The principal said the move to seize pupils’ cell phones and give them to parents or guardians was “a tightening of restrictions” the school already had imposed. The new rules come into effect on March 1, which is today in New Zealand.
Teachers at this school in the town of Masterton were concerned at the number of problems occurring through cell phone use. Text bullying was high among the examples given, along with inappropriate use of phone cameras, cell phone theft, mobile use in class, parents’ texting or calling pupils during class, and pupils’ texting or calling to ask a parent for a ride home after school.
Text bullying. That same abuse is running rampant in other nations. Some school principals are addressing the problem, but others are not. Some parents are aware of it, but some are not. Many teachers have been accessing my free character education lesson plan on bullying, but I wonder if they are applying its truths to text messaging.
We teach young people that bullying is best stopped by reporting to adults when you witness it, but how can someone witness text messaging to report it? Imagine a student in your classroom suddenly looking frightened. He or she is holding a cell phone, staring at the tiny screen in alarm. The mobile phone has allowed a bully to target that student. With complete anonymity, and little fear of being caught, someone has sent that child or teenager a threatening message, and no one has witnessed it.
Bullying by mobile phone and abusive text messaging are on the increase. Parents and teachers need to be aware of these and not underestimate the threat they pose. Parents and teachers need to help all students understand how to deal with text messaging bullies – and they need to teach students how to exercise character in their own text messaging.
Character counts in text messaging. If you, as an adult, choose to send text messages, I hope you will always stop to think about what you are writing. Your character or lack of character is conveyed in text messages as surely as it is conveyed in face-to-face conversations.
Character counts in text messaging done by teenagers, too, who seem more likely to use this technology than most other age groups. Teens need clear lessons on how to exercise character while text messaging. Responsibility, as teenagers learn while reading the thrilling teen romance, Date with Responsibility, is sorely needed. Irresponsibility in the use of a mobile phone is a keen temptation for teenagers, and we need to set aside time to train them in using every one of its features with character.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?