Students Set Up 'Facebook Watch' to Monitor Online Bullying
Source: Haaretz
Students at a Herzliya elementary school have joined forces to fight bullying and other inappropriate behavior carried out via the Facebook social networking application. Fifth and sixth-graders at the city's Alon School founded a Facebook Committee, whose members participate in what they term a "Facebook Watch." The idea is that students who observe swearing, bullying, harassment or inappropriate photographs posted on their classmates' Facebook pages will contact those responsible and ask them to remove the offensive postings. Uncooperative students will be reported to their homeroom teacher.
During a classroom discussion of the issue, students raised the idea of forming a class committee dedicated to Facebook issues. Committee members must undertake to spend part of a day every week on their friends' pages, taking note of who posts what on them.
Every class chose four to six committee members. The members then went to all the classrooms to explain the potential dangers of Facebook and give advice to their fellow students on how to stay safe in their online social lives. Parents also came to the school to add their input.