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Saturday, 14 July 2007 |
Teachers have joined students and parents with concerns over "cyberbullying" or the practice of harassing, spreading rumours or bullying someone online. While the debate rages on just how widespread and relevant this practice is the recent media furore over it has got a lot of academics thinking about the ramifications.
Ever since the creation of rateyourprofessor.com in 1999 the issue has spurred a legal, ethical, and free speech whirlwind of debate. But with the rise and rise of social networking sites the less attractive possibilities
for this kind of anonymous review dialogue has reached a new level. The
response from the academic community has so far been largely limited to
threatening lawsuits in individual cases and a few websites.
But this issue is not going away and academia needs to find a broader
space to debate, discuss and formulate responses to this now active
form of feedback and commentary on the educational process and people.
Let's add it to the list.
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