assessing middle school students’ knowledge of conduct and.pdfVIP

The Clearing House , 83: 158–163, 2010 Copyright Taylor Francis Group, LLC C ISSN: 0009-8655 print; 1939-912X online DOI: 10.1080/00098650903505365 Articles Assessing Middle School Students’ Knowledge of Conduct and Consequences and Their Behaviors Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites STACEY L. KITE, ROBERT GABLE, and LAWRENCE FILIPPELLI Abstract: Cyberbullying and threats of Internet preda- ous, unspeakable outcomes. Cyberbullying and threats tors, not to mention the enduring consequences of of predation through social networking sites and instant postings, may lead to dangerous, unspeakable conse- messaging programs have created numerous problems quences. Cyberbullying and threats of Internet preda- for parents, school administrators, and law enforcement tors through social networking sites and instant mes- on a national level (McKenna 2007, 60). Students today saging programs are initiating numerous problems for have access to cell phones, personal digital assistants, parents, school administrators, and law enforcement on and computers to access the Internet and communicate a national level (McKenna 2007, 60). A 34 item survey with peers almost instantly, leaving them less time to was developed to assess Knowledge of appropriate be- contemplate the words with which they communicate. havior on social networking sites (alpha = .84), Bully- Jenkins and Boyd (2006) identify one important aspect ing Behavior (alpha = .72), and Internet Use (alpha = of the problem to be the permanence and accessibility .78) of social networking sites for N = 588 grade 7–8 of online activity: students from an urban and a suburban school. Implica-