No Red Pill No Blue Pill Response

  I thought that 'No Red Pill, No Blue Pill' was a very interesting read. The author, Ana Cristina Prats  really touches on the hardships of teaching and learning.  She mentions that when it comes to education, that the learning isn't individual; the process is done socially, with the help of others. I mean, all the information you need doesn't just automatically pop into your head, right?  Obviously not. You learn and develop from all the people around you, especially from your teachers. Teachers play a vital role in one's educational path. They are the ones who truly help and guide you along the way to big things.

   However, this is the 21st century. We are constantly surrounded by technology, some of it extremely complex. Recently, many teachers have been turning to this new technology, to use it as a tool, a method for teaching their students. But, no matter how tech-savvy we may be, many of us are having a hard time adjusting to this new idea. I mean, sure, many of us are familiar with Facebook, Twitter, pretty much anything that helps us get our minds off of homework and procrastinate. We love using our computer to get away from it all. But when the homework translates from paper to computer screen? People must be thinking, "Wow! What's this? You mean to tell me I can't get away from my homework after all? This is something new." And it definitely is. I for one, am still adjusting a bit. Last year, I thought it was weird to have to present projects online via mediums such as Prezi, but this year, having a class where nearly no homework is done on paper, is new to me. I know I must not be the only one. Ms. Pratas, who's an educator herself, is seeing this problem in her class. Her students aren't adjusted to the new technological learning. This, too, must be new for them. However, she's implying that her students lack the motivation to be able to adopt this new concept.

 Ms. Pratas said in her article, quote "No matter how a teacher tries, if a learner is not motivated to learn, there will be little progress." This basically sums up the whole point of her article. She is saying that if the student doesn't put forth the effort to advance their education, they will see no change. Let me give you an example. Let's say you have peanut butter and you have jelly. Those are both great things, but you cannot make a PBJ sandwich without the staple ingredient; bread. As you may have guessed, the peanut butter and jelly represent your education. One slice of bread represents the teacher. Of course, you can eat an open-faced sandwich. But, in reality, the result wouldn't be as satisfying than if you added on another slice on top to complete the sandwich; that slice, of course, being the student. The same goes for the real thing. You can eat that sandwich open-faced, and have your teacher do all the work, or you can add that extra slice, put in that extra effort, and actually take responsibility for your education, and you'll have the whole experience. Chances are, the results will be a lot more satisfying than if the job was done half-asked. I believe if students really put their heart into their work, and did it with focus and precision, the outcome could be much greater. If they aren't satisfied with their result, they need to find the motivation to improve. Ms. Pratas used words like accountability and autonomous in her article. I agree with her. Sometimes students depend too much on the teacher, and don't take proper responsibility for their work and their overall education, and many receive a rude awakening when they get to college or university. This is difficult for the teachers, who are actually trying to motivate and push their students to their true potential. But, in the end, it's all up to the student. They must push themselves, and strive to do their very best. Especially when we turn to post-secondary education. I completely agree with the message the author is trying to convey, and I think she did so in a very creative and easy-to-understand manner. 

No Red Pill No Blue Pill Response

No Red Pill No Blue Pill was very interesting to read. It really expressed all about learning and the difficulties you find when you try to engage yourself in a topic. I found it really well written and the author really wrote what she thought about learning. I really enjoyed the depth she took with the topic and the visuals helped well and made it better.

I agree with the fact that learning can be hard. It is difficult to stay focused when learning some things because you might not really enjoy the topic so your mind will drift away and you won't be able to learn anything. She had written about 8 tips to be great and the first one was passion but you can substitute it for motivation, which is like what I wrote above, you have to be motivated and like the topic to learn it. She had written a little lower down about how even if the teacher tries to get you too focus there will be little progress. I don't completely agree with this because I do think that the teacher has a possibility to help you because she is able to motivate you and get you to engage your self a little more when learning a certain topic.

I really payed attention to the fact that she said learning can be social but in the end it is individual and I completely agree. To start you can work with friends and teachers and discuss things that you just learned and ask questions about the topic but it is up too you to take the information home with you. You can work with people for as long as you want but when you go home and don't think about that information you just learned that is your self choosing to forget. However, you can really focus with your friends and teacher, go home, put it into your own words and expand and then it becomes individual.

Reading this made me think a lot about learning. I didn't completely agree with everything she said but in the end she had some great ideas. It was interesting to read how she elaborated on this in such a great form. I really enjoyed No Red Pill No Blue Pill.

No Red Pill No Blue Pill Response.

     I really enjoyed this article/poem. It took such a simple topic that I had an opinion about for years and turned it slightly for me just by using a language I understood, poetry. It was very poetic the way the way the writer went about it, her incorporation with taking the red pill and taking the blue pill was a connection I would never thought of making.
     For so many years, I was and to be honest still am quite resistant to the technology based world and generation changing around me, but after reading this article I have some new thoughts about things. The writer inspired me with just two words, "Learning Hurts" because when teachers have tried to use technology in lessons in the past, I am already expected to know what I'm doing when in reality I don't, I don't even have a Facebook account, so the way the writer described how difficult this change is really made me feel like that side of the argument was understood. All in all, this article really inspired me to think of things in a new way.

"No Red Pill No Blue Pill" response

No Red Pill No Blue Pill was a great composition that had very well wording. She had some extreamly great points that really made me think about myself as a learner. My favorite thing that she said was "No matter how a teacher tries, if a learner is not motivated to learn, there will be little progress." This is my favorite point because i feel it is very true and i can relate to it strongly. When i have no motivation to learn i dont seem to benefit from it nearly as much because i have no care for it. Motivation is a very important factor to a learners lerning outcome. This writer also had any great metaphors and examples that were quite inspriational for the reader. The "8 to be great" diagram was an extreamly good layout for a learner to take in and follow for great success. I really enjoyed reading this post and felt that i benefited alot from it.

The one thing that i felt was the biggest downfall to this post was that i do not feel that some of the pictures fit in with the literature. For example, the picture of the ballerina in point shoes was very pretty but i dont feel that it made a connection with the content. If the pictures were more conected to the words then i think it would be a near perfect piece of writing. Taking it all in, No Red Pill No Blue Pill was a great composition that expressed a great idea with many great supporting points.

No Red Pill No Blue Pill Response

The article, "No Red Pill No Blue Pill" by Ana Cristina Pratas was a creative way to express the hardships of teaching to an unmotivated group. The message the author was conveying is that no matter the effort of the teacher, you can only learn if you want to. In the end, you choose how much you want to learn, how much information you want to absorb. After all, it's your education. The author might have written this article to indirectly advise her current class that if they weren't motivated enough, they wouldn't learn. This was a very creative way to express her struggles, and effective as well. The message was clear- the teacher shouldn't have to put in all of the effort, students have part of the responsibility too. 

The author's style of writing enhanced this article, and made it more interesting to read. She had a somewhat poetic scheme while introducing her topic as well as rounding off at the end. Furthermore, I enjoyed the descriptive language scattered throughout the article. In addition, I noticed quite a lot of visuals throughout her work. Despite her writing style, the visuals were somewhat distracting, and only a few were necessary. For example, what connection did the very first picture have to the article? On the other hand, the allusions made within the text was very useful. To elaborate, to be honest I myself had no idea what "No red pill, no blue pill" meant, until I read through the whole piece. If it wasn't for the links, I would probably still not understand the connection it had to her article. 

This article was very expressive and I enjoyed reading it very much. It made me realize that we couldn't put the blame  on teachers all the time; students have as much authority of their learning as teachers do. Many people tend to blame teachers when they don't learn in school. However, has anyone considered the other side of the story- have the students been putting as much, if not more effort than the teachers? By highschool, the students are old enough to step up and be the change they want to see, instead of sitting on the sidelines and criticizing others. If they are not satisfied with the teacher's method of teaching, they should be the ones to take charge and let them know. Students should take the initiative to further their learning, because you only learn as much as you want to. In my opinion, blaming teachers is just the easy way out. This relates to our society and my personal experiences because I always hear negativity about teachers, when students are partly to blame. You cannot solely accuse teachers of not doing their job without considering if the students have either. After highschool, there will be no teachers to guide us, and we take on full responsibility of our learning. Therefore, we should be prepared to be self-motivated and ready to learn. I completely agree with the author's message, and she has done a good job of expressing her opinions effectively. 

"No Red Pill No Blue Pill" Response

To begin with, I thought that this post was really well written. The author had a unique writing style which I admired - all the fragmented sentences and precisely chosen wording resulted in a very effective blog post. Honestly, though, it took me a while to figure out what the author was saying! Between the complicated language and various interesting pictures/graphs, it was a little hard to understand at first. And yet, each time I read (and reread, and reread) the post, I started to grasp her ideas more and more.

To the best of my understanding, I think that the author is writing to other educators about her struggle to get her students excited about digital learning. She writes about how her "inheritance this semester are students who have little or no digital skills. Nor do they wish to acquire them. Hence this inner bare landscape, withering away in a fractual of questions I seek light and possible solutions." The author also encourages other teachers to continue to push their students towards the digital way of learning, even though it may be difficult ("Immersion into digital learning and acquiring digital literacy skills takes time – and a degree of willingness.") Her message is that learning is completely up to the individual ("Learning may be social, but in the end it is individual.")

Still, I do not think that “digital learning” is the ONLY topic the author discusses in this blog post. She broadens her subject matter to touch on themes like “motivation” and “change.” And to me, these themes are very important ones. I wholly agree with her thoughts on the idea of “resistance to change”, and how difficult it can be. Personally, I have trouble adjusting to change, and I will admit that I was a bit iffy on the idea of creating our own blogs when Ms. Lees first introduced the concept to our class! Now, though, I find myself enjoying blogging a lot more, especially since it allows such a diverse range of feedback on my writing. I am a lot more conscientious towards my posts when I know for a fact that it is out there on the internet and that anyone can see it. If I had resisted the digital learning push our class is doing this year, English 10 would not be a very enjoyable course for me!

Overall, I thought that this post was an excellent one. It was enjoyable to read and almost poetic in a sense, especially towards the beginning and end. Most of the visuals enhanced the presentation and were very interesting to look at (I particularly enjoyed the “8 Steps to Be Great” image). However, some of the pictures were a bit redundant and didn’t really add much to her writing; all they did was stick out into the paragraph and make it confusing to read! They were very dramatic looking, though. I 100% agreed with Ana Cristina Pratas’s blog post, and I hope others will embrace digital learning as well!

No Red Pills, No Blue Pills Response

   The "No Red pills, no blue pills" article expressed how the author thought of success and change in "important courses" in University and Collage. She has realized that many of the students around the world today, start to use more and more technology as a learning tool. Since many young adolescents such as myself usually use technology as a social, and relaxing device, there are many doubts and worry for the teachers. Students may use the technology for a non-educational (lack of motivation) purpose and end up having to waste their time.

   Although there are cons to using technology as an education tool, there are the pros too. Technology has expanded the learning length of many students and even teachers. There are sites and apps such as Blogger, and Schology that are very helpful in learning. Due to the popularity of Facebook and how, many young adolescents use it as a social interaction device; Schology's layout is very similar to Facebook for those very purposes. Since many people use Facebook, Schology's layout has become easy and convenient for teachers to inform students of upcoming events. As for Blogger, as you can tell through its name, its purpose is to "blog". Nowadays more and more teachers create class blogs so other classes internationally can critique each other. For example our class have class blogs and Mr. D'Argent's class have them too, both classes are literally across the world from each other, but we can critique and give advice to their class as they do to us. 

  

    Ana Cristina Prata's, No red pills, no blue pills relate to more of our student lives than our course. She quoted "Drop-out rates in online education and incomplete or poorly achieved degrees", I believe that she thinks online education such as Surrey connect may lead to a students failure more than success. I choose this quote particularly because, since we are in grade.10 many of us should be considering of what are future plans should be. As a student we should start to consider what we should be taking in the next two years of high school and think about more of our success rate in a course. This also does apply to our English 10 class because, English 10 is an important course for a student to achieve. Due to the fact that we are in North America and the rest of world mainly uses English as a second language if not a English speaking country, every English course is important. Although it may be tough judging a person's ability in English through a course, it applies to every other course; how well you do in a course can alter where you get in the future. 

     Lastly, I believe Ana Cristina Prata's audience was aimed to both teachers and students because if a teacher takes recognition it is more likely they would think about the way they're teaching, which leads to affecting a student. If a student were to take consideration of "no red pills, no blue pills"  its more likely they would think about their future success, which affects the teachers because a student would "judge" a teacher more often. Ana Cristina Prata has certainly brought the "idea" of technology being a educational tool as both con and pro. 

The Super Seven Background

Hey guys!

If you haven't noticed already, I changed our background about a week ago. Previously we used a google image, but after reading some copyright details I decided it would be safest to create our own background. So I put my Photoshop skills to use and attempted to make my first SuperSeven logo! Comment below if you like/dislike it, how I can make it better, etc. Thanks!

If Students Designed Their Own School Response

When I watched this video, like Paige, I had mixed feelings about it. I can see how there would be pros and cons to the whole thing. We all have great ideas, but can they be used in subjects such as Social Studies? Science? Math? Maybe, but many great ideas don't connect or relate with anything that's covered in your everyday classes.  So, why not make your own class? Where you can do what you want with your time. I liked the idea of it, but I figured the class wouldn't be for everyone. For example, it wouldn't be a very good class for anyone who tends to slack off in school. What is the likeliness that they'll spend the hour on their phone? However, I believe it would be an excellent course for people who do well in school, or just genuinely care about their education. Some people may not like this course since it's not academic, but if you think about it, this could really be good. Students may want to learn how to play an instrument, or learn about how something works, or jut about anything they want to know and  focus on. I believe this course can improve students' performance in school, as they would be studying a subject that they enjoy, and could potentially improve their concentration, focus, interpretation, problem solving skills...and so on. I believe the course will be a great opportunity for the student to stimulate their brain. When I watched the video, one thing came to mind...The Summerhill School. At Summerhill, which is a Boarding school, the choices are all up to the student...which classes they like, which classes they take, or if they even GO TO CLASS. Yes, you heard me right. Classes here are 100% optional. If the students choose to play all day, they may. No one forces them to do anything, their education is completely in their own hands. I personally wouldn't send my children to this school, since boarding school is expensive, and I wouldn't want to pay for my children to play all day, but I find it a very interesting idea. The video also reminded me of our very own Genius Hour projects. With the Genius Hour projects, we have so much more freedom with what the project can be about. This isn't your typical boring school project where you are assigned a topic to write or research about. You get to do what you want, what interests you, and I think it' s a great idea to have this course available, to allow students to work and learn in their own unique way , not how the curriculum says they must learn. Their innovative ideas can be presented by the student's standard, and I'm glad to see courses like this coming to our school! I signed up for Project Design & Development for precisely this reason. I look forward to it, and to be able to present my ideas  in my own way!

If Students Designed Their Own Schools Response.

     When I first watched this video, I had slight mixed feelings. Although I believe that it would be a great learning experience to have complete control over what I'm doing, what I'm learning, and how I'm learning it, I don't truly believe that most of us students would be able to handle such freedom. For some, this may be exactly what they need like the students in the video, but I personally don't think I could do it. We are doing our genius hour projects in class which in my opinion, give us a small taste of what is going on in the video and I have difficulties staying focused and gaining control of my project, I could'nt imagine designing my own projects for everything.
     However, I do understand that structured classes are not for everyone, like in the video the one boy who had a learning disability said that he didn't know where he would be without this program, that he may not even be graduating, and in that sense I believe that alternative programs would be a good change for some, but I would personally like to stick to structured classes. Without a common base and a teacher there to motivate me, I don't think I would be getting very good grades in school, and many say that this program would help people learn to be on their own but in my opinion, structured classes can teach you those skills just as much as an alternative class.
     I believe that this video relates to the Digital Life video not as much literally, but in a general sense. Things are changing, we are all changing, the world is literally changing around us and I think that both videos have a message that if we don't keep up with these constant changes, then we may get lost along the way. Technology has changed completely in the past ten years and apparently, the idea of a functional class has as well. Structured classrooms may be changing and giving more control to this new self-sufficient generation, and the same goes for technology. We have almost all the answers at our finger tips, which I believe, puts us in more control. Although, I don't agree that children designing their own schools is for everyone, I still think that some are capable of taking control and accepting this changing world.

"If students designed their own school" video response

     P.E, and lunch are the closest things us students would probably be able to run without the guidance of a teacher. The video "if students designed their own school" showed how students could actually run their "course/school" without the guidance of a teacher. Normally in P.E you would be able to play sports and just run around without the teachers guiding through every step. As in for lunch, its just pretty much the students break and "freedom time". Students eat, play, study (review), and interact with each other without a teachers guidance; in if Students designed their own school they showed that students can independently study, and learn new things without a teachers guidance, calling it the "Independent Project".
In summary, it showed a group students working independently on their own interests through a project(s) which could have varied from learning the physics of a skateboard to learning how to play the piano. They gave honest critiques of each other's project each week for improvements and opinions. Although there were mentors in the room supervising them, they did not receive help from them; it was their project, their work.

   The message of the video was basically saying that we should try to sway of the "traditional" way of teaching and try to approach a new way of teaching because since society has changed the people have too. "It's crazy that in a system that is meant to teach and help the youth, there is no voice from the youth at all." was the first quote of the video and it proved just how much the teachers have made decisions for the students than the students themselves. Everybody is different therefor their way of learning, and thinking are different too, meaning not one way of teaching applies to everybody. There would be students that graduate successfully because they were able to accept the "traditional" teaching method and students that aren't as successful because they didn't understand or accept the teaching method. 

   ISDTOS is related to the "Digital Life" video by Amy Burvall because in Amy's video she discussed on how technology has changed the people and their lifestyles. "We shape our tools ... and then our tools shape us" quoted by Marshall McLuhan can be used as an example that us humans make so much technology and then our technology changes us. Both videos brings out on how society as well as how people has changed. Approaching new ideas and moving away/on from the past ideas may be more suitable to the present. 

  I personally think that the "Independent Project" isn't suitable for me, it may be more suitable for others (e.g Gr.11/12). I usually do work independently and can be self-motivated but I believe because I'm already so used the structuring of the "traditional" way of teaching, I now need the structuring. In my opinion if I were to be thrown into the "Independent Project" way of learning I would be totally thrown off my feet and have no idea what to do. I don't think I would as successful as I would be staying in the "traditional" way of teaching. I believe that this approach may be more suitable to Gr.11 and 12's in high school because during those two years most student that age have more of a sense of what their doing and where their heading as than Gr.8 and 9. The ISDTOS (if students designed their own school) video overall was very interesting and it made me think a lot more of how the current education system is. It was very enjoyable and a interesting new approach to the education system, but overall I don't believe this approach is suitable for me and the younger students in high school (e.g Gr.8/9). 

ISDTOS Video Response

I've heard of students becoming "principal for a day" at their school, but this was definitely the first time I had been introduced to the concept of students actually designing their own school! I initially pictured a rundown building where PE and lunch were the only "subjects" provided for the students, there were no teachers and the children ran wild all day long. Instead, when I watched the video, I saw a typical high school, much like Fraser Heights itself. There were adults supervising, but not directing. There was homework, projects, and class discussions. The students were focused, on task, and all of them seemed to know exactly what they should be doing at any given time, even if there was no teacher instructing them.

The promo video we watched was about the second pilot year of a new program called "The Independent Project". In this program, students design and plan their own individual, as well as group projects - without the influence of teachers. It runs for one semester, and is divided into three parts. Every Monday, the students each come up with a question he/she is curious about that is related to one of their core subjects, and spend the rest of the week researching that question. On Friday, the students give a formal presentation to share what they have learned with the rest of the class. These questions take up about half the time at school, and the rest of the time is spent on their own personal projects, or "Individual Endeavors", which run for the duration of the semester. The last three weeks of the semester are also spent on a group project called the "Collective Endeavor".

Basically, the video was telling us that we need to step away from the standardized way of teaching, and explore different methods. Education is always changing - the way students learn today is SO different from how our parents and grandparents learned when they were in school! Students need to, well, learn their own learning style. Marianne Young, the principal of the school, said that she wanted to "stop trying to move every kind of human being through the same gate".

Personally though, this method of learning would not work at all for me. It is hard for me to be self motivated and disciplined at times, honestly! I often need a teacher there to guide me, keep me on track with my work and set guidelines for me. I like due dates, because it gives me a time frame to work with. I like tests and quizzes because they give me an idea of the concepts I need to work on, and the things I could improve in various areas. Also, even though they try to keep the projects related to the student's core subjects, I feel that a lot of students would benefit more learning the standardized way in certain subjects than doing a project about them. This was a very interesting video, and I enjoyed watching it. However, I must say that the learning style displayed in the video is not for me!

"If Students Designed Their Own Schools" Video Response

              The article and video "If Students Designed Their Own Schools" opened my eyes and made me look at education in a new light. In summary, the video is a documentary about the second pilot year of a new program called "The Independent Project". Basically, this is project where students lead their own learning, and design their own projects, assignments, and schedule. This includes weekly questions, their individual endeavors, and a collective endeavor. There are mentors involved to oversee the student's progress, but the students do all the planning. In this video, there are nine students who spend one semester in this self-directed learning program. As they explain, they have enjoyed this experience and hope that other schools will take initiative to start it up as well. 

              The message of this video is that our education systems needs to move away from trying to teach everyone the same way, instead of letting the students teach themselves effectively. After all, who would know them better than they know themselves? Everyone has different learning styles, and there is no point in forcing information upon youth. We remember the facts that interest us, not what we are forced to remember. "It's crazy that in a system that is meant to teach and help the youth, there is no voice from the youth at all." This was the first quote in the video, and it captures the entire concept the video is expressing. 

               This video is related to Amy Burvall's "Digital Life" Video because they are both bringing up new ideas, against mainstream culture. To elaborate, self-directed learning is quite a new topic, while most public schools in North America are still in a traditional education system. Similarly, considering technology as a negative impact of society is a new perspective as well, because most people today see technology as a tool in making our lives easier. Both these videos spark controversy, as people for and against the topic debate the issues presented. Furthermore, these topics are both directed towards the new generation. Society reform hinders a lot of resistance, especially from the older generation. To demonstrate, in the education video, it was said that at first, many of the staff disagreed with the program. As well, in the technology video, it was a school teacher whom claimed that technology should be used with caution, and humans are becoming more and more dependent upon it. 

                In my opinion, I don't think this program would work with my learning style. Even though I am hard-working and self-motivated, I need a structured learning environment to succeed to the best of my abilities. To be honest, I don't mind tests and exams, because they test my skills and I have a clear understanding of what I need to improve. Additionally, since this program focuses on project-based learning, it would be hard to do a project on subjects such as math. On the other hand, mathematics is a topic that everyone should learn because no matter which career, math is involved. This is one of the biggest drawbacks I see within this project. Also, even though this project may be beneficial for high school students, they will not have this freedom in post-secondary education. Therefore, they will not be able to adapt to the university or college environment, because you do not work at your own pace. You do not get to choose your projects, and therefore I think that programs like The Independent Project does not prepare youth for education after high school. High school should be a place where we learn basic skills, which we can apply later on in life. Without these fundamental skills, how can students be prepared for the real world? This program would be more effective if it was available for post secondary education, where students are more mature and can handle self-study. Overall, this video was quite eye-opening, however it is not compatible with my learning style. 

Brianna's Speech - Online Bullying

Online Bullying

Brianna Disterhoeft

Discrimination and bullying are all around us. Everywhere we look, people are being judged for their clothes, their looks, their sexual orientation, even the way they speak, and they’re having fun poked at them. You see, in this technological age, people have a lot more access to the Internet; via their phones, tablets, or computers. Ever since the world wide web was introduced to the public in 1991, people have been using it as a tool to personally annoy, harass, or virtually attack certain individuals, or groups of people. Many cases of such things are quite severe, and have been getting more so lately. But the question is, how far have people gone with this, and how far will they go?

Back in the day, when the Internet first started up, it was actually an enjoyable thing. People just went on to do research, send e-mails, and play Internet games. I think the big problem came along in 2004-2005, when social media came into the picture. Things like YouTube and Facebook were launched, and people started flooding in. They loved it, the idea of being able to connect with their friends in a totally new different way. However, some of the content people posted, others may not have agreed with. So they posted their extremely HONEST opinion on the Internet. People got upset, and the people who posted the negative comments got attention. They liked it, they liked the attention, and they soon became...hungry for it. And so the modern day ‘troll’ was born.

I'm sure many of you have heard of a troll before. A troll is someone who posts inflammatory, offensive, or off-topic comments or messages on the Internet, usually in social media sites or public forums, basically anyplace where the public can comment. Most people don't actually mean what they say; they just want to feed off your reaction. However, what many don't realize that their words have an actual impact towards the people they're aimed at. Many people don't see this as a joke, but they take it as a serious insult. The outcome of these incidents can be damaging to the recipient of the attack, and sometimes even fatal.

It has been reported that 15-25% of suicides committed per year is caused by bullying. 52% of students who reported being bullied, said that it occured online. People sometimes become depressed, upset, or just genuinely hurt, all because of someone's mean words, that may not even be true. This goes to show that online bullying and trolling isn't funny, isn't a game, and can come with serious consequences.  People have gone much too far with this recently. People are receiving extremely severe insults, many times even death threats. This is especially the case with people who are dating certain celebrities, who have large fanbases. Fortunately, when these virtual incidents happen in online public settings, there's usually someone there to fend off the bully and report them. However, not all of these encounters are public.

If you are being bullied online, whether it be public or through private message, you need to alert someone. If the bully is not able to be flagged or marked as spam, you should tell a parent, teacher, counsellor, or any other trusted adult. If you are too embarrassed to do this, you can go to the Kids Help Phone website and submit questions anonymously. If you see someone else being bullied, you should also report the culprit. This ensures that no one gets hurt any further, and the bully won't be around for a little while.

Online bullying is a growing issue, that happens worldwide. However, it can be prevented, and perhaps someday, it can even be stopped. With your help and cooperation, we can turn these trolls from fact to fiction. With your help, we can make the Internet an enjoyable place once again.