School-aged
children quickly learn to make friends, display preferences and establish
their own social circles. This interaction used to take place in person,
via notes or letters, or via the home telephone. Affordable technology
has now provided our children with new methods of communicating, including ‘online’ via
various methods on the internet and also through personal cellphone text
messages.
Unfortunately,
those communication channels can also be used as a channel
for harassment or bullying, bringing this childhood threat
out from the school playground and into our homes.
Cyber-bullying can
range from unwanted negative remarks to threats and disclosure
of personal information and can include:
- repeatedly making fun of another person on internet websites;
- repeatedly picking on another person through emails,
text messages or instant messages;
- using internet forums and postings messages online intended
to harm, damage, humiliate or isolate another person that
they don’t like
- posting unflattering photos of someone on a website to
embarrass them.
Tips
for children:
- Just like in real life, there is a difference between
what is right and what is wrong on the internet. If something
doesn’t feel right, tell someone that you trust.
- Never give out your real information on the internet
(especially your name, school etc) or tell anyone your
passwords.
- Create a free email address (like Gmail or Hotmail) and
use that for internet websites. If someone uses it to harass
you, it’s easy to just delete that address.
- On sites like Facebook and MySpace, keep your profile
private.
- Refuse to support cyberbullying – don’t pass
on hurtful messages and tell your friends to stop. Treat
people with respect, like you want to be treated.
Tips
for parents:
- For younger children, keep the computer in a common area
where you can watch them.
- Talk to your children about what they are doing online.
Learn about the technology that they are using like instant
messaging and social websites.
- Tell your children that bullying is not right and it’s
not their fault. Encourage them to tell you about anything
that is bothering them and reassure them that they won’t
be in trouble with you.
More
resources:
Cyber-bullying is a popular topic, with many groups,
governments and schools providing information through various
websites. Here are some examples:
www.cyberbullying.org
www.cyberbully411.org
Call
ITensure today to talk about how you can protect your family
online.
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