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be a buddy not a bully
What is Cyber Bullying?
Cyberbullying is a form of bullying using any electronic or personal device to put down another person. some of these electronics include laptops, phones , tablets, etc.
Examples of Cyberbullying
Some examples of cyber bullying could be sending a hateful or mean text to another person, commenting negative things under anothers post, or posting things about another to point them out in a hateful way.
Three differences in Cyberbullying and bullying
- Cyberbullying can happen at any time and any place throughout the whole week. Sometimes it follows them home and kids often feel trapped as if they cant escape it.
- Cyberbully's can post things anonymously so its difficult to trace down the source of the bullying.
- You can delete things off of the internet but once you put things out there its out there.
Effects on cyberbullying
The effects kids have on cyberbullying are normally what you would think of just bad behavior. Have you ever had someone in class that would always get in trouble or just looked like a trouble maker? Did you ever stop to think why they might act that way? 7 times out of 10 its because they are being bullied and don't know how to deal with it. Here are some effects cyberbullying has on teens.
- abuse of alcohol or drugs
- skipping class/school
- receive poor grades
- low self esteem
- health problems
Prevention and Awareness
To prevent cyberbullying it has to be a group effort. Adults think they may know how to handle the situation IF it happened but when it does , do they really know what to do? Here are some ways students and adults can help prevent cyberbullying.
- Parents can monitor their child's social media accounts and if anything seems suspicious, talk to your children and report it.
- Students need to be cautious of what they put out on social media for everyone to see.
- Launch bullying campaigns against bullying to bring awareness to people who may not know that much about it.
- Set some type of rules in the house, school, daycare, etc to show bullying isn't tolerated anywhere.
- Educate anyone who may not be familiar about the problem of cyberbullying and bullying.
Establishing Rules
Schools and parents should establish some rules towards bullying on the internet and, If the rules are broken set some consequences for the action. here are some tips on how to establish some anti-bullying rules.
- Don't make it difficult , people are more likely to report when the rules are easy.
- Maintain reports in a way that shows emerging problems and patterns overtime.
- Keep reports confidential and private.
Reporting a Cyberbully
When you see someone being hateful on the internet it is very easy to just keep scrolling but what if it gets out of hand and you could've reported it? it is always a good idea to report anything that may be considered bullying or cyberbulling. here are 3 immediate steps you must take if you are to report something.
- Don't respond and don't forward cyberbully messages.
- keep any evidence you can of cyberbullying. Record all dates, time , social media account , and usernames. Save and print any screenshots taken.
- Block and report the person cyberbullying on all social media and messaging devices.
Report to your online service provider
Cyber bullying often violates any policy on any social media. Any time you or a friend sees some type of harmful comments towards another make sure you report it right then. Here are two ways you can safely report to your online service provider.
- Visit the social medias safety website and learn how to block and report any user and learn how to change your setting so that you can control who can and cant talk to you.
- Report any cyberbullying to the social media site that you are using so they can take notice and contact them about violating the terms and conditions they agreed to.
Report to your local law enforcement
Cyberbullying is not just against the terms of the service provider but its against the law as well. When these activity's take place they should be reported to your local law enforcement as a crime.
- Threats of violence
- Stalking and hate crimes
- Taking a photo or video of someone where they would expect privacy.
Report to your school
This step in reporting cyberbullying is very important. We need to make all schools aware that it is a real thing and there should be rules set. If we report it to our schools they will take action. Here are some ways that our schools can help with ending cyberbullying.
- Cyberbullying often leads to in-person bullying, if reported to our schools the school can use information to prevent respond strategies.
- in many states schools are required to address and bullying taken place on or off any campus as apart of their anti-bullying laws.