October is not only National Cyber Security Awareness Month, but it is also National Bullying Prevention Month as well. When we talk about staying safe online, the first thing that comes to mind is usually defending our personal information against hackers and scammers. There are other dangers that can be found online, including cyber-bullying. Each of us have a role to play in preventing bullying online and in our own communities.
Cyber-bullying takes multiple forms, from harassment on social networking sites such as Facebook to concerted efforts to humiliate or otherwise harm someone by posting private details of their life online. It can be completely online or can be just a component of other bullying and can come from a single source or have multiple people taking part. In some cases it can even be deadly, when extensive bullying online eventually drives victims to suicide. To identify cyber-bullying, you first need to know what to look for.
Some of the most common forms of cyber-bullying see the bullies using text messages, emails, Facebook posts and even fake Facebook or Twitter profiles to harass or embarrass their victims. Bullies may also try to gain access to the victim's real social media accounts in hopes of being able to make embarrassing posts or tweets. Harassment may target the victim's weight, sexual orientation, style of dress or other details that the victim is sensitive about, and can be in the form of messages, photos, video or other media formats.
In some instances, it can be easy to brush aside cyber-bullying as "kids being kids" or part of a youthful hazing ritual; this thinking is dangerous. It makes two assumptions that are blatantly wrong, assuming first that only children and teenagers can be the victim of cyber-bullying and second that cyber-bullying is at its core a harmless hazing ritual. Bullying in general is present in all walks of life, and cyber-bullying is just an extension of that harmful harassment that can be expressed from anywhere in the world.
Kids who are cyber-bullied have a harder time getting away from the cruel behavior. Cyber-bullying can occur 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and reach kids when they are alone and vulnerable. It can happen any time of the day or night. If you are being bullied online or see someone being harassed by cyber-bullies, here are a few things that you can do:
- Report the bullies. Most websites don't allow bullying and other harassment, so use the website's reporting feature to let administrators know about harmful posts. Depending on the site, these reports may even be anonymous.
- Block the bullies. As with reporting features, most social websites offer the option to block other users to prevent them from contacting you. Blocking bullies will not only stop them from posting on your wall but will also prevent private messages from them as well.
- Control access to your social pages. Use the same precautions that you would use to prevent hackers and scammers from using your Facebook and Twitter accounts for nefarious means such as limiting access to your posts to friends only, not friending people that you don't know and using strong passwords to prevent your account from being hacked. If people on your friends list start bullying you, remove them from the list.
- Tell someone who can help. If the victim or the bullies are people that you know, let parents, school administrators or other concerned parties know about it. They may be able to help diffuse the situation or bring the bullying to an end.
- Contact the police if it goes too far. If bullies start threatening violence, sending sexually-explicit pictures to a minor, begin stalking the victim or otherwise are breaking the law, let the police know so they can take action if necessary.
- Stand up for the victim. If you see someone else being bullied online, step forward to let the bullies know that what they're doing isn't right. This not only sends a message to the bullies but also lets the victim know that he or she isn't alone.
Spread The Word About National Bullying Prevention Month.
Silence is no longer an acceptable response to bullying. Adults, students, and educators can no longer look away when they see bullying. Ignoring it won't work. Everyone needs to be empowered with options to respond.
Bullying Prevention Resources
PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center unites, engages, and educates communities nationwide to prevent bullying through creative, relevant, and interactive resources.
- Share your thoughts about bullying prevention on "I Care Because . . ."
- Stories--Submit a video, story, poem, artwork, or audio clip expressing how you feel about bullying, how you think it affects students and schools, what you have done to prevent bullying, or what others can do to prevent bullying. PACER wants to hear from everyone--teens, parents, teachers, and others with great ideas who want to improve the world.
- Sign the Petition--More than 160,000 U.S. students stay home from school each day from fear of being bullied. No one should have to fear going to school. Unite with others and add your voice to the online "The End of Bullying Begins With Me" petition or hold a petition signing event at your school or in your community.
- Find creative, relevant, and interactive resources.
Unite against bullying!
Make it orange and make it end!
Sponsored by PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has information on cyber-bullying and its prevention on its website; you can find out more here: Stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/
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Yeah, It's a big problem now a days. But i believe every problem has a great solution. Yeah, all of you are right. There is a good solution to parenting online to keep our child safe from such problem. It is a software called PG Guard. I have mentioned it's features as following.
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