Many school districts are banning cell phones from the classroom. Such a ban may take away common distractions from teens, like playing games and texting friends, but a destructive and elusive problem will still remain in their lives: cyberbullying.

I was on a family vacation during the second week of the Olympics, so I did not see the break dancing competition. I did, however, see scores of memes, jokes, and spoofs of Rachael Gunn’s performance. As the 24-hour news outlets attempted to boost their ratings by debating the politics and appropriateness of Gunn’s routine; I only saw the relentless ridicule she was – and still is – enduring online.

Today’s adolescents know all too well that social media is fast and unforgiving for even the slightest “transgression.” It is safer not to risk embarrassment of any sort than it is to try a new sport, play a new instrument, or join a new club.  Earlier this week Gunn apologized to the breakdancing community for the backlash her dancing style produced.  She also said she was nervous and that she wanted to try “a different approach.”  So if you have even wondered why a teenager won’t try a new activity, you need only look at the ridicule and pressure Gunn suffered for being herself.

This dark side of human communication certainly predates the internet. In the “Aeneid” Virgil describes rumor (gossip) as a bird with an eye under every feather and covered in just as many mouths and ears, who flies through the air at night and perches on tall buildings in the day.  The monster, as Virgil aptly calls it, equally spreads truths and lies.

Today’s teenagers face a menacing threat which did not exist when their parents and grandparents were young. Imagine going to bed at night feeling good about your day only to awaken to dozens or even hundreds of posts, comments, and criticisms of you which some schoolmate posted on social media?

In the old fashioned, analog days it was one thing for two or three people to giggle about you at recess, those words disappeared into the wind, and if you were not around then you did not know about them.  It is quite another situation today when hundreds of people can write hurtful things about you online.

Ann Coulter’s now deleted X post targeting Gov. Tim Walz’s underage son is a perfect example of what every teenager feels and fears. Even when deleted, the online words do not totally disappear; they can live on via screen shots and repostings. Such brutally cruel posts can haunt the victim for weeks, months, or years. The aggressors can even tag the victims so they relive the pain every time it’s reposted or a comment is made.

Justin Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center reported a startling statistic. “In 2016, 10.3% of students told us that they had stayed home from school because of cyberbullying. In 2023, that number nearly doubled to 19.2%”

So what to do? Schools and parents should coordinate and cooperate in helping students recognize the signs of cyberbullying. We need both to help the victims report the behavior and we also need to educate the bullies on how destructive an online post can be.

It will take more than banning cell phones from the classroom to combat cyberbullying. Those phones will be back in the teenagers’ hands once the dismissal bell rings. Therefore instruction on how to properly behave online needs to be part of the students’ education because it is already a daily part of their lives.

In my three decades of teaching I have repeatedly heard students say “but that’s funny” about a post, comment or meme without realizing how harmful a “funny” comment can be. Since adolescent brains aren’t fully developed to see long term consequences, we need to help them understand the difference between what they think is humorous versus what others view as hurtful.

Gunn, 37, stated how devastating all of the world’s mockery has been on her mental health. Now imagine how it would be for the average teenager. Imagine how 17-year-old Gus Walz feels.

It’s time we adults protect and educate our children on the downside of today’s technology.  After all, it is our burden, not theirs, since we put the smartphones into their hands.

Just as a parent would not hesitate to run into a burning building to save their child, we parents need to enter our adolescents’ phones to survey their online inferno.

(Michael J. Maguire teaches Latin and Ancient Greek at Boston Latin Academy and serves on the Executive Board of the Boston Teachers Union.  The ideas expressed here are his own.)