California begins the New Year with a law aimed at curtailing cyberbullying. Assemblyman Ted Lieu introduced Assembly Bill 86, which “adds cyberbullying to school disciplinary codes that previously defined bullying only in terms of direct physical or verbal harassment.”

This bill is in response to the escalating issues with cyberbullying nationwide. At middle and high school sites – and even elementary sites – school administrators and counselors are seeking ways to reverse this cruel trend.

EGUSD has brought together an Internet Safety Task Force to address cyberbullying. One of the main Task Force goals is to develop a district wide program that embeds the ethical use of the Internet into the K-12 curriculum, with an initial focus on grades 4-6.

Throughout the year, the task force and 2Webwatchers will be providing the Elk Grove community with resource links to educate our students on what digital citizenship means. For our first elementary level resource, we recommend reading advice on cyberbullying posted to the McGruff.org website. The Shrink the Cyberbully game is appropriate for students in grades 3-6.

For additional resources on cyberbullying, please visit our 2Webwatcher resource links (right hand side bar). If you have online resources you would like to share, please leave us a comment.