As we discussed bullying previously in this series, we talked about the definition of bullying, different types of bullying, ways to identify it and how you can try to prevent it from happening. In those articles, we spoke about the effects bullying can have on children in the present and the future. While it has a lasting impact on a child, it also affects the child’s family, leading to a feeling of powerlessness for all involved unless steps are taken to prevent it.
While contacting the child’s school to intervene is a critical factor in the equation, in some cases, they are unable to stop it. There is another option for students who are victims of bullying at school, which is enrolling them in a virtual school.
Virtual schools have been around for quite some time but virtual education became more prevalent when the pandemic forced schools to implement a virtual education option for the health and safety of their students. While some students struggled with the switch to virtual education, others thrived in the virtual environment because of fewer distractions. For those students being bullied, the reprieve from their abusers were welcomed.
While schools have opened back up for in-class education, the pandemic continues to threaten the heath and safety of teachers, students and families. Many schools are already closing for a couple weeks, putting students back to a virtual education program. Many schools are beginning to embrace having a virtual school as a continued option. It is important to note that EducationWeek reported, “a RAND Corp. researcher who led a recent study showing that 1 in 5 districts were planning or considering a fully remote learning option for 2021-22. Before the pandemic, less than half of 1 percent of U.S. K-12 students studied virtually, according to 2018-19 federal data.”
Virtual school may be the right option for students suffering from bullying, whether their choice is with a district virtual school or another virtual school. Virtual classes will provide them a safe space to continue their education without fear of the abuse of bullying giving them the opportunity to focus on school. Some students have also found freedom in the virtual school environment in the way that it is structured. Rather than a strict 45-minute class after class in traditional schools, a virtual school generally offers students the ability to attend a live virtual classroom with other students along with some on-line, at your own pace learning, where they work on subjects outside the actual live classroom.
With one in five (20%) of students in school being bullied, it is important to know there is another safe and effective option of sending your child to a virtual school. Choosing the right virtual school can help your child thrive in their educational careers and remove them from unsafe situations. When looking at virtual schools, make sure they are using actual virtual education technology and not a corporate based meeting platform. Virtual education has special needs that meeting platforms don’t offer. These include giving the student the ability to engage in class in multiple ways, being able to own their learning experience, small group rooms for activity-based learning, math solutions, in-class quizzing with immediate results to the teacher and many more. Jigsaw Interactive was built specifically for teaching and learning. Jigsaw empowers the teacher and the student by letting them do more, together, in class. When you add learning behavior and performance analytics that provide details on what and how the students interact during class, Jigsaw is hands down the best virtual classroom technology for virtual schools.
