Speak Out against Cyberbullying
Help make it STOP!

There is so much that you can do on the net now – lots of great ways to create and share content, and to keep in touch with friends and family.

However, there is also the possibility some people may misuse these technologies and services. You, or a friend, may find that you are the target of cyberbullying.

You’re not on your own - there is something that can be done. There are strategies for dealing with bullies.

 

What you can do

"Cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others." (Bill Belsey: www.cyberbullying.org)

Sadly, bullying behaviour is nothing new. However, people can – and do - use their phones and their computers to make this problem so much bigger, and so much worse.

Bullies can be people you know, but sometimes passers-by can join in because they believe they’re anonymous and can’t be traced.

Wrong. Every word, every action leaves a digital footprint that can be tracked right to the bully’s virtual front door. Bullies will be found out eventually.

This kind of bullying can happen in school, or out of it. It can happen any hour of the day or night. It can leave someone feeling unsafe, and horribly alone.

No one has the right to bully another person. No one is expected to put up with it. At its most serious, cyberbullying is illegal and can be investigated by the police. However, even when it’s teasing or a joke that’s got out of hand, there are steps you can take to stop the bullies and take back control:

 

  • Ignore it – often this is enough to make the bully go away
  • Block the bully
  • Tell someone – tell your Mum or Dad, or another adult you trust. Or you can call a helpline (like the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800)
  • Keep the evidence – this can be useful in tracking the bully down
  • Report it:
    - To your school - they have policies in place about bullying and cyberbullying
    - To your ISP/phone provider – there are actions they can take to help
    - To the police – if there is a threat to your safety the police will help

If you know that someone is being cyberbullied

Don’t just stand there! Let the person who is being bullied know that you’re on their side. Sometimes just knowing that there’s a friendly face in the crowd can make all the difference.

You might be able to tell someone about it if the victim isn’t able to, or help them work out their own ways of dealing with it.

You help your friends – and you’d want them to do the same for you. Wouldn’t you?

View further advice, information, resources, and all sorts of interesting things.

For parents and carers

“Kids these days…”

…have, at their fingertips, an incredible range of communications media, and ways to express their creativity and make friends and connections.

However, some people will use their phones and computers to bully others through SMS, IM, email, through the misuse of social network services, through the mis-application of programs such as Photoshop or any of the myriad of video programs freely available online. It can be personal - defamatory, embarrassing, even threatening. It can take the form of power-play from so-called ‘griefers’ in gaming sites such as Runescape, World of Warcraft or in Second Life. It can also involve repeated spam attacks, hacking, virus assaults and other technologically crippling things.

It can happen to anyone, not just the obviously vulnerable children. Sometimes otherwise confident, outgoing individuals can be targeted, and the effects are no less devastating.

Common signs that a child is being subject to cyberbullying might include:

  • changing patterns of how they use the computer – perhaps being reluctant to go online, or seeming unhappy once they’ve been there;
  • receiving a sudden increase in the number of SMS messages;
  • having trouble sleeping, having nightmares;
  • becoming withdrawn, appearing depressed, having mood swings, crying without reason;
  • feeling unwell, with no specific symptoms;
  • becoming anti-social, having less to do with their friends;
  • falling behind in homework, being reluctant to go to school, even skipping school.

Of course, kids can exhibit signs such as these for any number of reasons, however, increasingly, parents do need to be aware that cyberbullying could be a contributing factor.

Each family should formulate a clear strategy with their children about how to deal with bullies, both on and offline. Strategies could include:

  • Communication: It is incredibly important that you communicate with your children about their online well-being.  It sounds a bit too easy, but setting the pattern of talking to your kids right from the start about what they are doing online and who they’re talking to, finding out about the kinds of experiences they are having, can mean that your kids are not afraid to talk to you when something is happening to them that makes them unhappy.  It’ll help you understand their point of view so that you are ready to take action to help straightaway.
  • Research: Find out the anti-bullying policies at your children's school. Many schools are also building in specific cyberbullying policies just to deal with this issue.
  • Report: Know who to contact if your child is being cyberbullied and what the procedure is for removing distressing information from the internet.

Places to go include:

  1. Your child’s school – schools should act on any complaints about bullying, cyber- or otherwise;
  2. Your internet service or phone provider;
  3. The operator of the site where the bullying content is hosted; these sites should provide a ‘report abuse’ mechanism visible at least from the home page or in its safety advice area;
  4. Where the messages contain any form of threat you should report this to the police as soon as possible.

Simply ignoring the problem – or trying to address it by ‘turning it off’ – won’t work. Research shows that, often, incidence of bullying aren’t reported because the victim is afraid they will either be blamed for it, or because they are afraid of losing access to a critical means of staying in touch with their real friends. Kids are literally wired together…to break that connection would be to isolate the victim even further.

View further advice, information, resources, and all sorts of interesting things.