The Learning Success Blog

Should all primary school students be required to qualify for a “Social Media Licence”?

That’s the proposal prominent Australian child psychologist, Michael Carr- Gregg has made to the government.

His idea is the licence would be needed before a student could bring a digital device to school.  Students would qualify for the licence by passing an on-line test with questions including privacy, cyber-bullying and how to spot a stranger online.

Great idea, but is it sufficient?

All 560 students at my granddaughter’s primary school in Sydney signed a massive banner with the pledge: “Standing Together Against Bullying”.

The banner is prominently displayed at the school’s entrance.  The mass signing is part of her school’s participation in the National Day of Action against Bullying & Violence.

Similar activities took place in many schools around Australia on March 16, 2018.

A tiny minority in our community think kids who are bullied should just ‘suck it up” because it “builds character”. 

That’s nonsense.  It’s mid 20^th century thinking. And even then it was a minority belief.

We now know that bullying can have devastating impacts. Students involved in bullying can develop behavioural and emotional problems and have trouble learning, according to many academic studies.

Parents and teachers know this, of course. They don’t need studies to tell them what they see happening to their children and students.

How can schools take a stand against bullying? 

“All the lonely people, where do they all come from?  All the lonely people, where do they all belong?”

 “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles (1966)

The stereotypical lonely old lady or man is what many people think of when confronted with the fact that there are lonely people all around them.

It's easy to understand why some old people may be lonely. They’re living alone. Their children may live far away, or they may not have children. These lonely men and women might have illnesses or physical disabilities that prevent them from easily leaving their homes to make or maintain friendships.

We don’t often think of children being lonely. But many are.

Many adults have experienced how stress affects our ability to concentrate, work or learn. Whatever the stress is, if it is bothering us enough, we find it hard to focus.

Imagine what it’s like when children are being bullied.  This can be a major stress for them and can go on day after day, week after week.  It’s chronic stress. 

If it’s hard for an adult to work under stress, it’s not surprising that a student who is being bullied will find attending to schoolwork tough.

Now a recent study has shown how the effects of the stress from bullying are even greater for students with disabilities. This is because they often lack a repertoire of emotionally appropriate responses to bullying and may instead respond with physical or verbal aggression.