What are the warning signs of Cyberbullying?
The term ‘cyberbullying’ has risen to fame in recent years as an increasing numbers of stories of online bullying have hit mainstream news. In many of those stories, sadly, parents have been completely unaware of what was happening to their children until too late. Christine Sands of Jordans Solicitors explains how parents can be vigilant to the signs of cyberbullying.
Online bullying is a concern that is growing rapidly. Parents and teachers now need to be familiar with the warning signs of cyberbullying as well as the signs of traditional face-to-face bullying. As cyberbullies can remain anonymous, they do not have to be bigger or stronger like the stereotypical bully to harass others. Being bullied can have devastating consequences on the health and well-being of a child and those consequences can carry on into adulthood.
Children should be encouraged to tell a trusted adult if they are a victim of any form of bullying but as many children do not do this straight away, or in some cases ever, it is crucial that parents and teachers know, and educate each other on, how to spot the signs of online bullying.
A child experiencing on-line bullying may:
- Avoid discussion and be secretive about what they are doing on electronic devices.
- Be reluctant to use their devices.
- Appear nervous or anxious, especially when sending or receiving messages.
- Display unusual anger, sadness and depression after using an electronic device.
- Discuss revenge.
- Close whatever they are doing if a person walks past them.
- Have trouble sleeping.
- Lose interest in school work.
- Exhibit an interest in self-harm or suicide.
- Experience mood swings.
- Feel unwell.
- Become reclusive.
- Become unusually withdrawn or depressed.
Although some issues may be uncomfortable, it is important to communicate the concerns children may face online. Address cyberbullying with children before it happens, explain what it means, the different methods used and what to do if cyberbullying does occur. By reiterating and reassuring children to notify a parent, teacher or trusted adult if they are bullied, children will have a safer experience when online. Whilst it’s important that our children can navigate the world of social media and online communication, we also need to apply rules, just as we have the ‘green cross code’ for crossing a road.
What forms of cyberbullying should I look out for?
Some bullies simply steal and edit images in damaging ways or add derogatory comments before posting them on social networking sites.
Sometimes, pretending to be the victim, the bully will create fake accounts to cause trouble with the victim’s friends and family or post embarrassing videos.
These images and videos could easily be found by people who want to find them. Educate your children about limiting the amount of images, videos and other content they place online about themselves as well as applying stricter privacy settings to their social media accounts.
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