G Suite for Education is a suite of tools that schools can use for free to allow educators and students to interact simply.   Whether school is in session, being held with online classes or a little of both, these G Suite tools consist of essential web based applications.  They allow teachers to plan and implement standard based lessons, manage grades and meet the needs of diverse learners.

A more simple way to explain how G Suite for Education works is that it’s a collection of apps just like you have on your phone. These apps however, are designed for use in educational environments. Some of these apps already exist for any organization needing to engage collectively online, but many with G Suite for Education have been specifically created for teachers and their classrooms. These Google tools will help you to engage students to interact with the content of any lesson presented, including back and forth communication other than just email or live online session.

Three Reasons to Use G Suite in Your Classroom

1. It’s completely free
2. Easy Collaboration
3. Use on any device with one log in.

Never before has G Suite been more essential with many students having to attend their classes online. G Suite tools exists to help you increase opportunities in your everyday work flow for critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity with your students. All of this happens while supporting the standards in learning objectives that you have.

G Suite for Education Apps

You may recognize many of these Google platforms because as mentioned, many of them are not only used for education. G Suite for Education simply groups them all in one place through your Google account, in addition to adding specific apps essential for the online classroom.

Core Services of G Suite for Education

Whether conducting classes in school, online or both, here are the G Suite tools that will make it easier for your students to connect through their each individual Google accounts, just as teachers and administrators are.

Classroom: This is one of the most commonly used G Suite apps but many Google Classroom’s features may not be fully utilized. Even though the classroom is online, it is very secure as only those who are invited can join through a class code emailed to each individual student. Once a classroom is created teachers can can add various classes and sections as needed. Some key features of Google Classroom are:

• Track classwork and submit assignments.
• Check originality, feedback, and grades. Share resources and interact in the class stream or by email.
• Parents and Guardians can get a regular email summary of student’s work.
• Review announcements and activities.

Drive: Think of Google Drive as a flash drive that is stored on a different computer that you can access from anywhere and from any of your devices. This is the same for students. It’s the easy way to share lesson files or educational videos and everyone in your class will have the latest copies. Add and remove files at will or update documents without having to forward revised materials your students. Drive brings all of the G Suite tools together for easy access on the cloud by everyone in your class.  Inside Google Drive you can create docs, work sheets, slides and forms for various purposes.

Docs: Any document your would normally create, print off and hand our to your students can be created in Google Docs. These docs will be available instantly for your entire class to see. You can restrict these documents from being edited by students, or their may be circumstances when you want to allow editing, if not students then with other teachers or administrators you share documents with.

Sheets: Make your lessons come to life with colorful charts and graphs. Built-in formulas, pivot tables and conditional formatting options save time and simplify common spreadsheet tasks. Choose from a wide variety of budgets, schedules, and other pre-made spreadsheets — all designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier.

Slides: Google slides allow you to choose from a variety of presentation themes. There are hundreds of fonts, embedded video and animations as well. A wide array of pitches, portfolios and other pre-made presentations are also available.

Forms: Imagine the ability to create a pop quiz without having to print off copies and wait for students to attend your class? Google Forms is also a great place to get feedback from students. For example, lets say you want to create a place for students to leave questions or comments. Rather than sending out an email and getting overwhelmed with responses, you can create a form for them to list their name and comment or question. It’s also a great way for all students to see what their online classmates are thinking, just as if they were in a school classroom asking a question.

Sites: One of Google’s oldest platforms, Google Sites is easiest way for you to create a website for your classroom. Update it as regularly as you wish or simply use your class website to present year long resources, including links to safe websites for research. Many teachers provide a link to Safe Search Engines such as our Google safe search tools.

Assignments: This tool allows teachers to streamline the distribution of assignments to students, as well as analyze and grade all work. Google Assignments integrates into your LMS (Learning Management System after your school administrator has turned on the tool within your domain. Learn more about how it works at https://edu.google.com/intl/en_ca/assignments/

Meet: Here is where you set up your classrooms for distance learning. Just as all of Google for Education tools, it’s free for schools and gives you complete control to meet security and privately. You can block students from using classic Hangouts and Google Chat on their school-managed Chromebooks. You can block all students. Or, set different rules for students in certain groups.

Chrome: There are a lot of benefits to making Google chrome your default browser. First and foremost is the idea that Chrome works best with Google.  Since you’re using all of these Google tools you’re less likely to encounter any snags. Using Google Chrome also allows you to keep everything the same no matter what device you are using thanks for Chrome Sync.   

Gmail: Pretty straight forward here. Your Google email is connected to your Google account and has the same log in to any G Suite tool use, all while maintaining efficient communication between administrators, teachers, and students. Gmail is not required by students to be part of an online class, but they will need a Google account and an alternate email address to get class notifications.

Calendar: The easy way to schedule online classes. Students and parents are always kept “in the loop” and everyone can get reminders about upcoming activities. You can also create multiple calendars that everyone can use together. Use of this app by all participants means students don’t have to create their own calendars to keep track of their schedules.

Contacts: Busy teachers often have different groups they need to communicate with. With G Suite Contacts you can organize and merge your contacts, as well as create personal mailing lists. Quickly send messages to specific groups of people with a single click.

Keep:  The quick way to stay organized.  Create quick lists and add structured information and sub tasks.  Easily access your notes and lists on the web and your mobile devices.   G Suite administrator can control who uses Google Keep within your school. Users who have Keep turned on can use it to create, manage, and share notes within your school.

Admin: G Suite for Education within every school is controlled by an administrator. The Google Admin console is their access to manage all teachers and students using G Suite. There are plenty of free online tutorials to learn how to operate G Suite. Google also provides training for educators to become G Suite administrators to fully utilize the power of G Suite. G Suite courses are held online and are regularly scheduled to continued availability.

Integrate the collaborative power of Google into your LMS

Cyberbullying is one of the most common causes of emotional stress not only among children but also teenagers and even adults. Children that are bullied online experience stress, anxiety, and even depression. They have low self-esteem, lower grades, and may even feel physical pain.

The mental bullying definition, according to officials, is the following: it is a form of bullying which takes place via smartphones, tablets, and computers. It happens through text messages, social media accounts, forums, and video games where youngsters share information and communicate. Cyberbullying means sharing harmful and negative information about a person, including data that may cause embarrassment.

In this article, we will discuss the signs of online harassment, its consequences, as well as apps that prevent cyberbullying and other effective measures.

Signs that your child is being bullied online

Most children don’t tell their parents about being bullied, so it is important for adults to understand what signs may indicate the problem. A child may be cyberbullied if:

• They stop using a smartphone or computer, while before they used it all the time;
• They avoid using computers where anyone else can see them;
• Every time you walk by, the screen or monitor goes black;
• They are withdrawn;
• They neglect friends and avoid other people;
• They don’t want to attend school;
• They say something like ‘I don’t have friends’ or ‘there’s a lot of stress in the class.’
• They are nervous when getting a message or email.

How this may impact a child’s psyche

You already know what cyberbullying is and what signs to look for. But what can cyberbullying cause? Is it a minor problem or a serious issue that requires our attention? Below we are going to discuss the emotions that cyberbullied children experience. And some of them are extremely dangerous.

1. Confusion

It may be overwhelming, especially if a child is bullied by several kids at the same time. A bullied kid may think that everyone knows about the situation and supports it. They think that the world is against them, and there is no one they can turn to. Very often, they think that the situation is too heavy and difficult to handle.

2. Humiliation

Cyberbullying takes place on the Internet, so if something is published online, it stays there for ages. That is why children feel exposed and can’t get rid of the feelings of being humiliated.

When the bullying takes place, messages and posts can be shared by others, and the more people know about the situation, the more difficult it is for a child to cope with the situation.

3. Strengthless

Cyberbullying victims feel powerless and unsafe. This happens because online bullying reaches them anywhere they are: at home, at school, or even in a supermarket. They are reached via a smartphone or a computer 24/7. That is why the child doesn’t have a place to hide, and it feels that the bullying will never end.

Unfortunately, rather often, online bullies are anonymous, so children may experience additional stress and fear. And they don’t know how to cope with the feeling of powerlessness.

4. Uselessness

As a rule, bullies attack the most vulnerable ones, so the victims already feel that they are not worth the love and attention. Most bullies trigger others by saying that they worth nothing and don’t have any value.

Unfortunately, these feelings may lead to disastrous consequences. For example, if a kid is called fat, they might use harsh diets and harm their health. Or try and change their appearance to look more attractive. Some children refuse to go to school or even to leave their homes because they feel useless and don’t see a point in communicating, studying, or even living.

5. Isolation

Many children and teenagers that are bullied feel excluded at schools and colleges. They often feel alone and not knowing who to turn to. At this age, friends are extremely important, and their absence leads to even more bullying and stress.

When cyberbullying happens, children are usually advised to close their social media accounts and turn off computers at least for a while. However, this leads to even more isolation because, for children, it is extremely important to communicate with their friends and stay updated on the things happening around them.

6. Vengefulness

In some cases, cyberbullying makes children very angry, and they start searching for a way to harm the bully in return. This emotion is one of the most harmful consequences of bullying because the child is locked in negative emotions, which can do significant harm. It’s best to forgive another person than to be angry all the time.

7. Physical illness

Psychosomatics proves that emotional state may influence your physical health. Cyberbullied children often complain of headaches and other physical symptoms. Stress can also lead to problems with the stomach, skin, and whatnot.

A common impact of cyberbullying is troubled with sleep and nutrition. Children have nightmares and insomnia. They may also skip meals or even stop eating at all. These conditions are extremely harmful and can lead to negative consequences in the long run.

That is why it is so important for parents to be attentive to their children and notice any changes in sleeping and eating habits, as well as other physicals signs of mental problems.

8. Absence of interest

Cyberbullied children look at the world differently, and they lose meaning in the things that support them. They no longer enjoy their hobbies and spend less time with their friends and relatives. This only contributes to depression and leads to irreversible consequences.

Bullying victims are disinterested during classes; they are not motivated to get high grades and perform well. They skip school not to dace bullies or because they feel embarrassed and think that everyone in the school knows about the situation.

Stress and worries cause a lack of concentration, which results in poor grades. In the long run, this may lead to dropping out of school or even losing interest in entering college. As you see, such a ‘minor’ problem may impact a child’s future.

9. Depression

One of the most dangerous and harmful conditions that a bullied child experience is depression. They lose confidence and no longer have healthy self-esteem, which leads to stress and anxiety. They, in turn, make a child unhappy. If the episodes of cyberbullying happen on a regular basis, the above emotions lead to depression. And in most cases, it is impossible to cope with depression without side help.

It should be noticed that many children mask their depression and, on the inside, seem happy and cheerful.

10. Suicide

According to research, cyberbullying may be a cause of suicide, especially among youngsters. Children who are regularly bullied by their classmates or neighbors, or even unknown people on the internet, often lose hope and think that they can’t do anything about the situation.

They might think that the only way to change the situation is to commit suicide. As you understand, this condition is the most threatening one and requires your full attention.

How to prevent cyberbullying

As you see, cyberbullying and depression are interlinked. This may influence a child’s future and even lead to irreversible consequences. That is why it is so important to know the most effective prevention measures.

First of all, you should try and monitor the social activity of your child and record the time and the medium that was used for bullying. Then you can report to the school or academic institution if the child is bullied by a classmate. It is also important to try and talk to a child about the situation. Another effective instrument is to post positive messages if you see a dialog with bullies.

However, the methods above might not help if your child is withdrawn or too sensitive. In such a case, you can try out applications that may help to reduce and even prevent cyberbullying.

Final thoughts

Does bullying cause depression and suicidal thoughts? Now you know the answer. It is a very dangerous problem that causes stress and anxiety in thousands or even millions of children. It becomes difficult to lead a happy life, which in the long-run harms both mental and physical health.

Fortunately, it is in our power to help children and solve the problem of cyberbullying. Instead of remaining indifferent, we should become active listeners, mediators, and voices of wisdom. We should also treat our children with respect and participate in their lives so that they won’t want to bully others or would have enough stamina to resist bullies. Luckily, there are consulting sessions and apps which will be of great help.

KidzSearch Instant Answers is a new search feature specifically designed to help students find the information they need. It integrates many different sections of KidzSearch to help kids discover what they are searching for, including younger students who often have difficulties doing online searches to find relevant content.

Instant Answers provides high quality reviewed information related to all searches next to the regular KidzSearch safe search results, such as the student encyclopedia with over 200,000 entries designed just for kids with simplified articles.  Another example of Instant Answers is for KidzTube, which contains over 50,000 handpicked high quality learning videos. Other items include educational games, related topics, AI tutoring, and more.

The information presented via KidzSearch Instant Answers is visual with large images and simplified summaries. It also has links to get more details. This can help students get a general feel about a topic.  While it might directly answer their question, it can also help a student do a more refined search, or to expand their search in areas they were not aware of before seeing the topic information.

AI Search Results

The search results use artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced algorithms to provide a virtual tutoring experience while they do their online research. The AI system might show them the answer to a math question and offer step-by-step tutoring on how it was solved or give a related student-focused article. It is like having a virtual tutor with them when they do their online research.

Performance is very important. With each search, multiple technologies go to work in the background to integrate content in fractions of a second. The entire system has taken years to develop and will keep improving as the company moves towards adding AI tutoring to the online student search experience in a seamless manner.

Try Instant Answers for Students

Students often have a lot of quality educational resources, but they may not know where to start. KidzSearch Instant Answers provides a solution to this problem by moving high quality reviewed resources to them. An API is also being developed that can allow companies to tap into these features to help power their educational applications.

Give Instant Answers a try at the top of our site, or see what it looks like for this sample search term:  Paul Revere

Whether you are a student, or a parent committed to staying informed about internet safety technology, the safe search tools we provide in partnership with KidzSearch is our highest priority.  Safe research resources allow anyone of any age to seek out the information they need with a much lower risk of being exposed to harmful content.

A Brief History of Google SafeSearch

Google is over 20 years old.  On November 11, 2009, a few years after becoming the world’s most popular search engine, Google introduced the ability for users too lock their basic level of SafeSearch for Google’s web and image searches. On December 12, 2012, Google removed the option to turn off the filter entirely, requiring users to enter more specific search queries to access inappropriate content.  However, the safe search filtering was and remains to be a basic level of filtering.

Safe Search Kids was founded on July 16, 2009 to provide Google basic filtering from our website, but it was only in recent years that we partnered with KidzSearch to use their strict filtering API to block bad search terms and spelling variations that are likely to lead to bad websites. In addition, 1000’s of website domains are blocked from appearing in the results that many other parental control filters allow.  In addition, the whole search experience, with kid-focused meta-content/results and a more visual experience is improved with a search designed for them.

We encourage schools and parents at home to use us as a one stop gateway to safe search tools for the web, images, wiki for kids, and videos.

Regrettably, bullying is very common among children. However, that doesn’t make it normal, and parents shouldn’t rely on their children to “grow out of it” as they mature. Why? Because growing out of it is a quick fix, while fostering empathy in your child is a long-term solution.

Emotions, kindness, comforting words, hugs, and feeling others’ pain are all traits associated with empathy. When your child is empathetic, bullying is entirely out of the equation. But the question is how to foster empathy for bullying prevention. Below are a few ideas.

How to Instill Empathy in Children

When your child is authentically empathetic, they’re guided by their empathy in all their actions. They’re able to put themselves in others’ shoes, relate to their feelings, and help others feel better. Here are some ways to teach your little one to be empathetic.

Fulfill Their Needs

Even among grownups, we usually say that when someone bullies us, they feel bad about themselves or are jealous. By that very same token, if your child doesn’t receive the love they need from you, they won’t be able to treat others with love either.

Loving your children extends to include making them feel enough, and that’s the keyword. Avoid comparisons with classmates who receive better grades, sports mates who continuously win the gold medal, and similar situations. This very often triggers bullying behavior.

Encourage Your Child to Speak Up

Kids often have trouble conveying their feelings, especially when they don’t understand exactly how they feel. Always encourage your little one to share their feelings in the best way they can –– be it through art, speaking, a song, or other. Then, you can help them name their feelings.

When they’re connected with their emotions, they’re able to pick up on situations where others feel the same way they did, and they’ll understand how that felt like. If your child doesn’t let out their feelings, it may result in violence, bullying, and tantrums.

Lead by Example

Children are the best copycats. Showing them what empathy looks like is one of the best ways to instill empathy in their behavior. For example, visit your neighbor who lives alone and take them with you. Then, when you’re back, tell them that the neighbor had been feeling lonely and you wanted to give her some company and cook her a good meal.

When you take action and explain it, your child builds up a life guide of situations and behaviors that they use when they need to. You don’t even have to make huge actions; they can be as small as explaining why an actor was crying in a particular movie scene. Also, make sure to hear what your child thinks of the reactions they’re perceiving.

By doing so, not only does your child eliminate bullying from their dictionary, but they’re also better equipped to identify it and stand up to such behavior if it ever happens to them.

Explain to Children How Their Words and Behaviors Impact Others

Sometimes, children simply don’t understand the repercussions of their behaviors. They don’t mean any harm, but their mind doesn’t grasp the impact of their actions. Therefore, always make a habit of talking to your child about what happens to the other person due to their behavior.

Make sure to tackle issues such as spreading rumors, gossiping, being violent, calling others names, leaving some people out, and more. That way, they’ll learn to think before taking action, and they’ll consider how the other person will feel.

It’s also best if your child’s school works on preventing bullying by using a program that promotes an overall positive school climate using age-appropriate lessons. Make sure to check the school’s efforts in that area.

Final Words

Being empathetic is a cornerstone of leading a healthy life. For the longest time, people thought that empathy is equivalent to being nice, but actually, empathy is the bigger umbrella encompassing high levels of emotional intelligence that children can employ to make compassionate decisions and relate to others.

We hope that you now have an idea of how to foster empathy for bullying prevention, and at the end of the day, we all share the same vision of putting a stop to bullying!