Review:Prim-Ed:Bullying in a cyber world


Review:Prim-Ed:Bullying in a cyber world
Prim-Ed have produced a set of 4 books on the theme of “Cyberbullying”. I like the title, to begin with as it is trying to get the message across that cyberbullying is just another form of bullying. There are 4 books, each at different levels-Early years( Infants), Lower(1st and 2nd), Middle (3rd and 4th Class) and Upper( 5th and 6th Class).

Relevance to curriculum aims: 3/5

I would think that these books to an excellent job of totally covering the area of bullying, friends, self-esteem, friendship, decision making and feelings that are seen in the 3 strands of the SPHE curriculum. However, I really think the Early Years level may be more suited for an excellent Senior Infants but more so for an excellent 1st Class. The idea of a Junior Infant scanning the web to target victims wouldn’t really happen. The focus in these classes would usually be based around the individual child ganing social skills before branching out to the wider world. I found this with all the books, the lower books recommended for 1st and 2nd class would be great with higher end of 2nd Class, 3rd class and so on.
Take the time to look through the books and activties online first to make sure they suit your own class.
Teacher useability: 5/5

Very easy to use, the book has an easy to read introduction to bullying, moving onto cyber bullying. It explains reasons and effects of bullying, giving the teacher a starting point. Each topic is divided into a lesson plan with activities based on this. Activities have a diverse range, integrating literacy with poetry, songs and diary entries. Up to date chat room, texting and blogging genres are used, making great use of the writing genre for the older children. The activities are highly interesting and relevant to the children they are aimed at. I think the teacher will enjoy the content as well. In fact, if there was a complaint for the teacher, it might be that there is too much to cover. I’d suggest selecting an area that your own class need to cover for the year, for example, being a bystander and what to do. There’s more than enough work here to keep you going in the area of bullying, especially in the area of the web, mobile and other technology.
Value for money:5/5

At €22.95, it’s great value as each book will last you from 2-4 years with a class, brilliant for multi-grade as there is plenty new material for each year.

Extras: 5/5

The extras are relevant and support extension work. I was really impressed with all of the extras in the book. Examples of the extras are sample teacher bullying incident reports and pupil bullying incident reports, anti-bullying pledges, merit certificates and bookmarks, sample pupil internet safety checklist and parent internet cyber safety checklist and a list of useful websites and books the teacher can use as a resource. You can also purchase the posters, A2 as a set of 6. These posters are bright, child-friendly and help reinforce the anti-cyberbullying message.

Every classroom needs these resources or should be at least exposed to a discussion of cyber bullying. The NCTE have done a huge amount of work in the area of cyberbullying with new publications in process. The Prim-Ed books will complement the Surfwise and Webwise internet resources that the NCTE developed. Cyberbullying is an awful and very damaging reality that we, as educators must address. These books will help you come to terms with what children will be dealing with.

I would have nearly awarded this “Top of the Class” anseo.net award but the placing of ages and levels was somewhat out for me, in all the books. If a school is buying a set, the teacher will be able to pick their own content but if you are buying an individual book, take care!

Written by Rozz Lewis, I can be contacted at [email protected]

Last Update: August 22, 2017  

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