"I just want the bullying to stop…

“…That is all I ever wanted. I used to love
going to school. Now I hate it.”
-Verity W., 9 years old

An Australian state has apparently decided to ban YouTube in schools to help crackdown on cyberbullying. This is one of those decisions that perhaps sounds good if you don’t bother to actually think about what happens next.

Banning YouTube in schools doesn’t even remotely slow down cyberbullying. All it really does is let teachers and administrators bury their heads in the sand and pretend that no cyberbullying is going on because they’ve blocked the best way for them to keep tabs on it.

Instead, the cyberbullying will continue — and the videos will still appear on YouTube (and, more likely, other sites), but the teachers and administrators will somehow think they’ve solved the problem because they no longer see it. And, of course, that doesn’t even start down the trail of questions about how much useful, legitimate or educational material the schools end up blocking in the process of blocking YouTube as well. Sure, there’s a lot of useless junk on there, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few very useful videos as well.

Techdirt: And Now That They’ve Banned YouTube In Schools, All Bullying Will Cease

There really isn’t that much for me to say about that… the article covers it.  I chose that quote mainly because the reactions of the school board reminds me of the quick-fix a child would want.  I don’t blame that bullied-child for WANTING such a reaction… but shouldn’t adults have the capability to think OUTSIDE the box and try to address the problem from the heart?

It’s like using a barrel of ICE COLD water to stop a raging barn fire.  The barrel did its job, now its time for the raging fire to figure it out… shyeah right….