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GREENBURGH, N.Y. Nalani Smalls was still looking for sites to download music from. She was thrilled to have won an iPod Nano from Cablevision's Power to Learn "Delete Cyber-Bulling" contest.
To combat online tormenting, Jodi Manne, Woodlands Middle School's educational technology teacher, sent in 120 posters from her students. The competition was aimed to eradicate cyber-bullying from schools while starting a dialogue about its harmful nature.
"I was a bit surprised," said Nalani, 13, who found out that she won third place last week. "It was hard finding pictures and I had to edit some, but I had fun making it."
The win was extra-special for Nalani, a seventh-grader, who was placed accidentally in the high school category.
"I was trying to show that cyber-bullying is wrong and we need to stop it," said Nalani. "It's wrong. People get hurt and do suicide over stupid things that other people do."
Students were also encouraged to send in Public Service Announcement videos. "I think it's great," said Manne. "Cyber-bullying is a huge issue in middle schools everywhere we live now. It's way easier to cyber-bully someone than bullying. It's not to their face."
Being an educational technology teacher, Manne said she feels responsible for teaching the students how to make safe decisions online and how to use the computer appropriately. Manne's students also took an online pledge to "take a stand against cyber-bullying."
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