This health unit, I have learnt about the dangers of students’ usage of social media platforms. The key things that I learnt in this unit, are how vulnerable some people can be if they are uneducated on the dangers of cyber bullying and the effect that the bullies’ online behaviour has on their victims. This includes learning about critical thinking, respect, the YeS Project and responsibility when using social media. Some people don’t realise that cyber bullying is just as bad as physical bullying and now that the world is progressing into a more digital environment, there is an increasing amount of people being a victim of cyberbullying. As I am lucky enough to be educated about this unit, I have learnt how to be an upstander not just a bystander and how to avoid getting into unpleasant situations. Below I have written an explanation of the main concepts I learnt from this unit.

Critical Thinking

In lesson two, I learnt about critical thinking. Critical thinking is a crucial part of being able to use your social media platforms responsibly by questioning and not being submissive or gullible about what you first see. People online now have the power to edit photos and videos to make someone look different in either a negative or positive way which can sway your opinion in how you judge them. In our booklets we got to see some photos and discussed what we thought they were about. Then our teacher showed us the real versions that were un-edited. For example, the first picture that was shown looked like motorcyclists part of some gang, however the un-edited version was actually a charity ride where people bought a stuffed toy and brought it to the hospital. It was startling how initially I had a negative response to the picture but when I saw the real version I could see how easily someone could be tricked into having a particular view on an image if they only took it at face value.

Respect & the YeS project (Young & eSafe)

As respect is part of our school values, I had some knowledge on what it meant. However, being respectful online is slightly different. It doesn’t just mean to respect others and their opinions, but also to respect yourself and acknowledge who you are. Often when people are online, they think that they need to fit in. The many negative influencers try to tell you how to fit in, look and speak, which changes your personalities, relationships and our community. The YeS project is all about this and respecting other people’s privacy and letting them be who they want to be, including yourself and not what everyone else thinks you should be.

In Ashleigh’s padlet response, she talked about being respectful to others and not saying anything that you wouldn’t say to the person’s face. Even when you are being an upstander, you need to watch your words because you could be rude to the person who is cyber bullying another. I also talked about this topic in my padlet response – that when you are texting someone, they can’t actually hear your tone of voice which is a big part of knowing what someone’s expression is. Their statements sarcastic and you may not realise it. Even emojis may not correctly reflect their true emotion.

Responsibility

Critical thinking and respect are very important parts of acting responsible online. You may have heard your parents go on and on about being responsible, but do you really know what it means? Being responsible online means to use your digital apps in an ethical and respectful way. Being responsible means to not speak to strangers, have private accounts, speaking up about issues, looking out for others and only accepting friend or follow requests from people that you know.

Towards the start of the year, we were lucky enough to have Paul Litherland speak to us and give us a little insight of what can happen on the internet when you talk to strangers. He described how a scammer tricked a boy to giving his details to the scammer because the scammer just pretended to be a another young boy. The scammer then used those details to steal money from the boy. Responsibility comes in many ways including being cautious about who you give your details to and speaking up about suspicious activity. If the boy that got scammed didn’t start talking to the stranger in the first place his money wouldn’t have been stolen.

By going through this online safety unit, I have gained knowledge on what we should be cautious of when we are online. As a result, I am now watching my own and others’ behaviour when using online platforms to prevent any unpleasant situations (like misunderstandings of text messages). I have stopped and thought about what I am saying before I send a message, and try not to be judgmental about the things that I see on social media.

I hope that in the future people will stop and think about what they are seeing, saying and doing.