subject: Preventing And Stopping Online Bullying [print this page] Online bullying is a very serious problem plaguing our children and their families. Also known as cyberbullying, it is just as real and just as harmful as real, physical teasing and bullying is. It does not matter if it is physical bullying in school or if it is virtual bullying on the Internet- the effects are real, they are taken seriously by law enforcement officials, and they are damaging- sometimes even deadly.
Unfortunately there have been too many cases in which someone was the victim of online bullying who ended up either injuring themselves, committing suicide or even committing murder over teasing that had taken place on the social networking websites online. This cyberbullying includes many different activities, all of which are taken very seriously. Some of these things are making threats, spreading rumors, posting embarrassing photos or harrassment. So what can parents do to help keep their children safe from online bullying, teasing and harrassment?
First of all, parents need to know all about what their kids are doing online at all times. After your child is done using the family computer (or even theirs), you need to check the browsing history to find out what websites they visited. In addition, every so often you need to try to find your childs profile on these social website networking. They might have more than one profile on more than one website, so you have to try to conduct a search using your childs full name, any nickname they might use, their phone number or anything else that they might use for identification on these sites. If you are worried about invading their privacy, you have to remember that they are posting private information up on private pages.
Not only that, but would you rather feel like you were invading his or her privacy or would you rather have them silently suffer the effects of online bullying, until they decide they can not take it anymore and they end up attempting suicide. This is not far fetched; this very thing has happened numerous times already, despite the best efforts to prevent online bullying by teachers, parents and also by the social networks themselves.
You have to talk to your kids about being responsible when they are online, being smart and being safe. Talk to them at length about what they are doing, and explain to them the reasons why you feel it is so important and that online bullying has devastating consequences. They have to understand that anything they are going to post is going to follow them for a very long time. Online bullying is something that has gotten very much out of control, and unfortunately prevention has already not come quick enough for several children who have already been buried by their parents because of it.
by: Phoenix Delray
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