Have you noticed your child being too private about his/her online activity? This could be one of the fist signs you child is being cyberbullied.
Cyberbullying is a rapidly growing issue, being among one of the dangerous online issues, it has became one of the top suicide factors for teens.
Online bullying is pretty much the same as traditional bullying, except cyberbullying happens with the help of modern technologies like computers and smartphones. According to the latest statistics kids spend around 4 hours a day online, with 80% of the time via smartphones, making them one of the most common mediums for cyberbullying.
Children aged 7-17 harass and torment each other online, using social media, IM chats and traditional texting. Some of the most frightening statistics on cyberbullying are included below:
• More than 45% of children admit to be bullied online
• 70% admit to witness someone else being bullied but were too scared to do anything
• 93% of cyberbullying attacks are being held via commenting or chatting in social media chats like Facebook or Instagram
• Online bullying victims are 3 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide
• Only 1 out 10 online victims will report their parents or teachers
The problem of cyberbullying was first raised in 2012, after the death of Amanda Todd who was severely cyberbullied. McAfee chief officer reported in her interview that 1 in 10 kids have been cyberbullied without their parents knowing.
Here’re 7 ways you can prevent cyberbullying:
Talk.
It is no secret that the key to understanding children is very often a simple conversation. Ask your kid/student what online bullying is, does he/she know anyone who is being bullied and so on. This is a famous psychological trick when a child refers to “a friend” when talking about his/her own problems.
Monitor online activity.
While you can trust your child, you cannot trust all of the Internet’s users. Monitoring online activity is a necessary precaution rule for both parents and teachers. The best smartphone monitoring is presented with Pumpic.com a parental control app, which allows you to monitor social media, IM chats, all calls and text messages and even track real-time location of your child, using GPS navigator. As for PC, the best known app is sociallyactive.com, a PC monitoring app that allows you to view browser behavior and block inappropriate websites.
Engage youth and parents.
You can start cyberbullying awareness by creating a club or community against cyberbullying. Establish a school online safety community where kids can discuss their problems and report online attacks. Kids need to know that there is help and they are not alone in this fight.
Create a positive climate.
Unlike parents, schools can do a lot to prevent cyberbullying. Teachers can participate in anti-cyberbullying community, create weekly meetings and even send e-newsletters. Kids can be mixed in groups and given mutual tasks against online bullying to create awareness around the problem.
Become a community volunteer.
Volunteering in an anti-cyberbullying community will help you understand the problem. You can redirect bullies’ behavior and identify the victims with the necessary experience on the ground.
Use the celebrity card.
Kids idolize their teen celebrities and copy them in almost everything. To our joy, there are teen celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and others who support online victims by sharing their personal bullying stories in popular social media like Twitter and Facebook.
Restore self-respect.
It is important to remember that your goal as a parent or teachers is to restore the child’s self-respect. Fast decisions won’t do any good, you need to act thoroughly. Talk to teachers before addressing the problem. Collect all of the evidence and join with like-minded parents or teachers to figure out the best possible solution.
Featured photo credit: Julie Ricard via unsplash.com
