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The top 10 questions about cyberbullying

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The top 10 questions about cyberbullying

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Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it

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What teens want to know about cyberbullying

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68% of teens agree that cyberbullying is a serious problem.

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Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that takes place via internet connected devices like smartphones, computers, or tablets. Cyberbullying can occur via social media, email, messaging apps, text messages, forums, games, and more. Any online medium that allows for the sharing of information can become a platform for cyberbullying.

Simply put, cyberbullying is the use of technology to intimidate, harass, threaten, torment, or humiliate a target. Examples of cyberbullying including sending mean texts, posting false information about a person online, or sharing embarrassing photos or videos.

Cyberbullying differs from in-person bullying (although the two are not mutually exclusive) in that it can be:

More difficult to recognize - What children and teenagers do online is not always readily apparent to parents and teachers. Bullying conducted via text or online medium can more easily go unnoticed.

More relentless - Cyberbullying doesn't end at school, and can follow a child home.

More enduring - Cyberbullying leaves a paper trail that can follow both the bully and the victim for years

Different Types of Cyber Bullying

Parents and educators should be aware of the different types of cyberbullying, so they can adopt measures to prevent and confront it. Common forms of cyberbullying include:

Doxing - publishing revealing personal information about an individual online, for purposes of humiliating, defaming, or harassing the victim

Harassment - posting hurtful, threatening, or intimidating messages online, or sending them directly to someone, with the intention of harming that person

Impersonation - creating fake accounts or gaining access to a person's real social media accounts and posting things to damage the victim's reputation

Cyberstalking - tracking and monitoring a person's online activity, and using the internet to stalk or harass an individual

How to Prevent Cyber Bullying?

As cyberbullying becomes more prevalent, it is increasingly important for parents and educators to take steps to prevent it. Here are some tips for adults to prevent cyberbullying:
1. Be aware of your child's online activities
Children should not be allowed to browse the internet freely. Parents and teachers should monitor the sites that the children use and be cognizant of the apps they download and digital media they consume. Children should have their screen time limited, and be encouraged to engage more in offline activities
2. Watch for the following signs of cyberbullying in children:

Refusal to allow you to see what they are doing online

Avoidance of discussing what they are doing online

Sudden, unexplained increase or decrease in online activity

Deactivating social media accounts

Emotional responses (including sadness, anger, happiness) linked to their device usage

Adults should also teach children to recognize and be aware of the signs of cyberbullying themselves. Children are often less aware of cyberbullying than adults. Make sure your children are aware of what cyberbullying is, and teach them the following tips:

Refuse to participate in, or aid cyberbullying (including refusing to pass along cyberbullying messages, refusing to

allow their friends to partake in cyberbullying, and refusing to communicate with cyberbullies)

Never share passwords for their online accounts

Never put something online that they wouldn't want everyone to see

Block communication with cyberbullies and do not read messages

Impact of cyberbullying on students

Cyberbullying can have a serious impact on student's self-esteem, grades, and overall quality of life. Because cyberbullying does not end at school and can continue 24 hours a day, it can be very difficult for children to escape. As long as a child has access to a phone, computer, or other internet connected device, he or she is susceptible to cyberbullying. Studies have demonstrated the major impact that cyberbullying has, including:

Emotional problems, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and stress for victims of cyberbullying

Increased likelihood of anxiety, depression, low life satisfaction, and drug and alcohol abuse for the cyberbullies

Lowered scholastic achievement and satisfaction for both the bully and the bullied

Increased likelihood for victims of cyberbullying to be bullied offline

Cyberbullies face a greater chance of being cyberbullied in return, and targets of cyberbullying have an increased change of become bullies themselves

Targets of cyberbullying face an increased risk for suicidal thoughts and attempts

For the cyberbullies, the consequences of their actions can very severe, including being suspended or expelled from school and being removed from sports team, clubs, and activities. Certain types of cyberbullying can even be considered criminal.

How Parents Can Help?

Cyberbullying can be a challenging problem for parents to deal with because they often do not possess the technical skills or knowhow to keep up with everything their children are doing online. Schools are increasingly educating and training their employees in how to recognize and address cyberbullying instances, but it is still critical for parents to know the signs of cyberbullying, and how to respond to them.

The first step to help your child is to inform them of what cyberbullying is, and how to recognize it. Parents should set age-appropriate technology-use guidelines for their children to follow when using electronics. Parents should also teach their children basic strategies to deal with potential cyberbullying situations before they become more serious, such as blocking the bully, protecting personal information, and ignoring or reporting inappropriate messages.

It is also important to create a safe, open environment, in which your child feels comfortable coming to you if they are being cyberbullied. Many children who are targets of cyberbullying, do not report it to their parents for fear of losing internet or cell phone privileges.

If you discover that your child is being cyberbullied, it is important to offer them your reassurance and support. You should make sure that your child knows that being a victim of bullying is not their fault, and that a bullying incident says more about the bully than the target.

Tell your child that they did the right thing by coming to you, and assure them that they will not be punished. Tell them that together you will figure out the right course of action to take.

The first step you should take, assuming the cyberbully is a classmate of your child, is to report the cyberbullying incident to someone at the school. Most schools have policies in place for responding to bullying incidents.

In addition to this, you should take steps to prevent future bullying incidents through a few common-sense measures:

1. Block the bully - Make sure the bully can no longer contact your child by blocking them on whatever platform they've been bullying your child

2. Give your child online safety tips - Make sure your child knows never to share their password, post their location online, or share any sensitive information

3. Limit technology time - Although it may seem like a punishment, sometimes it is necessary to limit technology access for children who are being bullied and can't resist the temptation to check their messages or social media. Moving computers out of children's rooms or putting limits on cell phone and video game use can help keep your child away from cyberbullies

Trends to address cyberbullying

Effective approaches to dealing with cyberbullying must involve education, prevention, detection, and remediation; and requires involvement from parents, teachers, school administrators, children, and law enforcement.

Although technology is the catalyst that allows cyberbullying to take place, new trends in cyberbullying detection and prevention for schools involves the use of technology, such as IT management platforms to set alerts for administrators when students use a school device for cyberbullying. NuEduSEC's alert allow school admins to get instant notifications if a student uses a school laptop, desktop, tablet, or other device for cyberbullying. Using technology to combat cyberbullying can help close the gap between what students do online and what parents and administrators are aware of.

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What is Cyberbullying? | How to Prevent Cyber Bullying?

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Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that takes place via internet connected devices like smartphones, computers, or tablets. Cyberbullying can occur via social media, email, messaging apps, text messages, forums, games, and more. Any online medium that allows for the sharing of information can become a platform for cyberbullying.

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What Is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. Online threats and mean, aggressive, or rude texts, tweets, posts, or messages all count. So does posting personal information, pictures, or videos designed to hurt or embarrass someone else.

Cyberbullying also includes photos, messages, or pages that don't get taken down, even after the person has been asked to do so. In other words, it's anything that gets posted online and is meant to hurt, harass, or upset someone else.

Intimidation or mean comments that focus on things like a person's gender, religion, sexual orientation, race, or physical differences count as discrimination, which is against the law in many states. That means the police could get involved, and bullies may face serious penalties.

Online bullying can be particularly damaging and upsetting because it's usually anonymous or hard to trace. It's also hard to control, and the person being victimized has no idea how many people (or hundreds of people) have seen the messages or posts. People can be tormented nonstop whenever they check their device or computer.

Online bullying and harassment can be easier to commit than other acts of bullying because the bully doesn't have to confront their target in person.

What Are the Consequences of Cyberbullying?

Sometimes, online bullying, like other kinds of bullying, can lead to serious long-lasting problems. The stress of being in a constant state of upset or fear can lead to problems with mood, energy level, sleep, and appetite. It also can make someone feel jumpy, anxious, or sad. If someone is already depressed or anxious, cyberbullying can make things much worse. Students who are cyberbullied can struggle to concentrate in school, which can affect how well they do there.

It's not just the person being bullied who gets hurt. The punishment for cyberbullies can be serious. More and more schools and after-school programs are creating systems to respond to cyberbullying. Schools may dismiss bullies from sports teams or suspend them from school. Some types of cyberbullying may violate school codes or even break anti-discrimination or sexual harassment laws. So a bully may face serious legal trouble.

Why Do People Do It?

Why would someone be a cyberbully? There are probably as many reasons as there are bullies themselves.

Sometimes, what seems like online harassment may be accidental. The impersonal nature of text messages, posts, and other ways of communicating online means it can be hard to figure out if someone is joking or not.

Most people know when they're being bullied, though, because bullying involves repeated insults or threats. The people doing the bullying know they've crossed a line, too. It's not a one-off joke or insult - it's constant harassment and threats that go beyond typical fun teasing or a nasty comment made in anger.

What Can I Do About Cyberbullying?

Sometimes, people are afraid or not sure if they're being bullied or not. So they don't do anything about it. If you're being bullied, harassed, or teased in a hurtful way - or know someone who is - you don't have to suffer in silence. In fact, you absolutely should report any upsetting texts, messages, posts, or emails.

Tell someone. Most experts agree: The first thing to do is tell an adult you trust. This is often easier said than done. People who are cyberbullied may feel embarrassed or reluctant to report a bully. Some may hesitate because they're not 100% sure who is doing the bullying. But bullying can get worse, so speak up until you find someone to help. Sometimes the police can track down an anonymous online bully, so it's often worthwhile to report it.

Most parents are so concerned about protecting their kids that sometimes they focus on taking major steps to stop the bullying. If you're being bullied and worry about losing your phone or computer privileges, explain your fears to your parents. Let them know how important it is to stay connected, and work with them to figure out a solution that doesn't leave you feeling punished as well as picked on. You may have to do some negotiating on safe phone or computer use - the most important thing is to first get the bullying under control.

You also can talk to your school counselor or a trusted teacher or family member. If the bullying feels like it's really getting you down (like if it's affecting your sleep or concentration), therapy can help. If you're not ready for that, you can still benefit from the support of a trusted adult.

Walk away. What you've heard about walking away from a real-life bully works in the virtual world too. Ignoring bullies is the best way to take away their power, but it isn't always easy to do - in the real world or online.

If you see something upsetting, try to step away from the computer or turn off your phone for a while. Don't respond, and never forward the message to someone else. Find something to distract yourself from what's going on. Do something you love that doesn't give you time to think about what's happening, like playing the guitar, going for a run, or losing yourself in a book or movie. You can also just chat with a parent or sibling or play with a pet.

Taking a break like this allows you to keep things in perspective and focus on the good things in your life. It also gives you time to figure out how you want to handle things.

Resist the urge to retaliate or respond. Walking away or taking a break when you're faced with online bullying gives you some space so you won't be tempted to fire back a response or engage with the bully or bullies. Responding when we're upset can make things worse. (Standing up to a bully can be effective sometimes, but it's more likely to provoke the person and escalate the situation.) Taking a break gives the power back to you!

Although it's not a good idea to respond to a bully, it is a good idea to save evidence of the bullying if you can. It can help you prove your case, if needed. You don't have to keep mean emails, texts, or other communications where you see them all the time - you can screenshot them or ask a parent to make a copy or save them to a flash drive.

Report bullying. Social media sites take it seriously when people post cruel or mean stuff or set up fake accounts. If users report abuse, the site administrator may block the bully from using the site in the future. If someone sends you mean texts or emails, report it to phone service or email providers (such as Comcast, Google, and Verizon).

Block the bully. Most devices have settings that let you electronically block the bully or bullies from sending notes. If you don't know how to do this, ask a friend or adult who does.

Be safe online. Password protect your smartphone and your online sites, and change your passwords often. Be sure to share your passwords only with your parent or guardian. It's also wise to think twice before sharing personal information or photos/videos that you don't want the world to see. Once you've posted a photo or message, it can be hard or even impossible to delete. So remind yourself to be cautious when posting photos or responding to someone's upsetting message.

If a Friend Is a Bully

If you know of a friend who is acting as a cyberbully, take them aside and talk about it. Without putting your friend down, stand up for your own principles: Let the bully know it's not OK.

Explain to your friend that bullying can have serious consequences: for the bully, for those being bullied, and even for bystanders like you and your friends.

You can read more about how to stop bullying at Stopbullying.gov.

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Using technology to bully is a problem that's on the rise. The good news is awareness of how to prevent cyberbullying is growing even faster. See our tips on what to do.

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Resources for Elementary & Middle School: Bullying Prevention & Diversity Appreciation - Kidsbridge Center

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Kidsbridge is always looking for books, videos, songs, websites, activities, and research that address bullying prevention, diversity appreciation, and respect for others. Similar content is sought for other important subjects like empathy, empowerment, mindfulness, along with strategies for dealing…

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Cyber-bullying Facts – Top 10 Forms of Cyber Bullying

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Cyberbullying - How to Avoid Cyber Abuse

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Stop Bullying on the Spot

When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable. Research shows this can stop bullying behavior over time.

Parents, school staff, and other adults in the community can help kids prevent bullying by talking about it, building a safe school environment, and creating a community-wide bullying prevention strategy.

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StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on bullying, cyberbullying, prevention and response.