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School starts WhatsApp etiquette class

After cases of bullying and harassment on social media app, grade-schoolers learn do’s and don’ts of texting

By ToI Staff 23 February 2015, 1:14 pm

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Researchers at the Technion in Haifa have developed technology that allows smartphones to repair scratches to the screen automatically. (CC BY-SA/Jan Persiel, Flickr)

Move over Miss Manners: A school in northern Israel has started teaching students WhatsApp etiquette to prevent bullying and verbal abuse on the social media networking app.

Administrators at the Yodfat School in Nazareth Illit initiated a two-week program to teach grade-school students proper decorum on WhatsApp and other social media, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday. The school principal said the move came as a response to slanderous speech and hate groups formed by pupils that propagate “social excommunication” of others.

Students are asked in the program whether the message they’re sending is true, whether it’s helpful or constructive, and whether it’s harmful to others. They are discouraged from sending messages, images or videos to peers that are hateful or embarrassing.

The students are also presented with six general rules of WhatsApp etiquette: Don’t open hate groups; don’t slander; protect personal privacy; protect the right of human dignity; don’t share embarrassing videos or pictures without permission; and request permission from a student before adding them to a group.

Following the success of the pilot project at the Yodfat School, similar programs are set to be held for third- to sixth-graders at 80 schools nationwide.