Cyber Bullying

The news article I read about cyber bullying was about how it led to a girl's suicide. This 13-year-old girl, named Megan Meier, befriended a boy online through Myspace. However, what started out as a friendship soon turned sour. It started out when the boy wrote to Megan, "I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends." Soon, their compliments turned to insults as the boy started sending Megan cruel messages and posting online bulletins saying things such as 'Megan Meier is fat' and 'Megan Meier is a slut.'

This led Megan, who had suffered from low self-esteem all her life, to depression and she hanged herself in her bedroom closet a day later.

Six weeks after this took place, Megan's parents

 found out that the boy who had made Megan so much didn't exist, and that his account was in fact created by the mother of one of Megan's former friends. Although Megan's parents do not believe it was her intention for Megan to commit suicide, they still blame her for their daughter's death. Ever since, both of them have been striving and doing everything they can to increase online security and protect vulnerable teenagers from cyber bullying.

Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide after becoming a victim of cyber bullying.

Growing Up Online

Growing up online is a documentary that shows the negative side of technology. When I watched the video clips of Growing Up Online, I was extremely shocked at what I saw. There were teenagers in it that spent almost all of their lives on the Internet, even eating their meals in front of it, never moving from that one spot in front of the computer. It was more effective for their parents to send them an e-mail or an instant message than to actually talk to them because they seemed not to hear words that they said.

Digital Citizenship

How can I become a responsible citizen when using technology?

Being a responsible citizen when using technology is very important, and I will try my best to be as responsible as I can because if I'm not, then it can quite possibly result in serious consequences, either for me or for others.
To be a responsible citizen, I must keep my privacy and never post any information I don't want others to know online where all can see. If I do and someone finds out about it, then I'm making myself vulnerable and it is my own fault for posting it in the first place. I also shouldn't post any pictures of myself or my friends on sites such as Facebook without first editing my Privacy Settings so that only my friends can see them. Plus, I must always have the permission of the people in these pictures. On social networking sites, I must always make sure to add only my friends or people that I know well. If I do want to add others and make new friends, then I should first make sure that all my private information is taken off so that it is not visible to them.
I must also make sure that I myself do not fall victim to cyber-bullying. It is important to remember that random people on the internet do not know me or anything about me so whatever they say shouldn't affect me at all.
Another thing I should do as a responsible online citizen is to make sure that I never say anything bad or mean that I don't mean to anyone online (also known as cyber-bullying) because although spoken words fade away, written ones always stay unless deleted. The person they were written to could take them much more seriously than intended, especially if this person is a stranger. It could make him/her feel bad and less confident about himself/herself in the real world or even push him/her closer towards turning emo or committing suicide (as I learnt from the video Growing Up Online, this is quite possible and sadly it has happened on many occasions).
If I take all the precautions mentioned above, then I can keep myself, my friends, my family, and perhaps even others I don't know safe and in doing so, I will be a responsible online citizen.


How can I make others in my community aware of the importance of being a conscientious digital citizen and behaving appropriately when using technology and online resources?

Most people who use technology and online resources do not understand the true dangers and risks involved with using them. They are unaware of the serious consequences that some people (teenagers especially) have faced. Until I watched the video Growing Up Online, I myself was unaware. I knew and understood that it was dangerous to give out personal information, but I never really thought about the concept of cyber-bullying and I never even imagined that it could ever lead someone to kill him/herself. Many people who cyber-bully others just do it as a joke and don't really realize the consequences. Therefore a good way to reduce the amount of cyber-bullying would be to make others aware of its consequences so that they too strive to be conscientious digital citizens when using technology and online resources.
I can make people aware of this in many ways. A good start would be to tell people of what I have learnt; I can share the information verbally with my family and friends. I can also e-mail family members who live far away and people who have moved through Hotmail and Yahoo. Another possibility would be to post a note about it on Facebook, where a lot of people (especially children and teenagers, who are the most vulnerable) would be likely to read it. When I inform people of this through technology, I should also add the link to the site where they too can watch Growing Up Online. The reason I should do this is because seeing the videos, which include real-life cases where irresponsible digital citizens have wrecked their lives and/or others', will send a much stronger, more urgent message than my simple words ever could.

The Design Cycle

The Design Cycle in MYP is the series of steps you must take in order to create any project in Technology.

The first step, Investigate, involves doing research about your project and things that may assist you in making it and writing up what you find. The second step, Design, involves making 3 designs, choosing the one you like best, and writing about why you chose that particular design. In the third step, Plan, you plan your time out carefully for your project. In the fourth step, Create, you make your actual project. During this time, you should keep a process journal and record any changes you have made from your original design. In the final step, Evaluate, you evaluate your work for each previous step of the design cycle and your overall attitude during the project. You write any changes you would make if you had to re-do the project.
The Design Cycle is helpful because it helps you lay out your work in a way that is organized and makes sense so if anyone else looks at, they can understand what you did and why. Also, if you make a mistake, it is easier to go back and see what you did wrong.