Protecting your children from cyber bullies
Wed Dec 26, 2007
School life is being transformed by the Internet and mobile phones. Kids as young as six years old are learning and playing online, teenagers are speaking a new language through texting, and students now have an entire World Wide Web to draw from when doing homework. While the majority of these interactions are positive, there is a dark side as well: some children are using these communication tools to intimidate and threaten others.
Bullying is an age-old problem for schoolchildren, but the anonymity of Internet communications is bringing the harmful practice of bullying online. A Media Awareness Network survey in 2005 showed that 27 percent of kids who were bullied, were bullied over the Internet. And a December 2006 Kids Help Phone survey found that an astonishing 70 percent said they had been cyber bullied. With this in mind, many Internet Service Providers, like Bell, are working to put a stop to this destructive behaviour.
Here are some important tips to help protect your children from cyber bullies:
• Learn everything you can about the Internet and what your kids are doing online.
• Talk to your children about responsible Internet use and ask them about the Web sites they visit; where necessary, use parental control software to block specific sites.
• Teach them to never post or say anything on the Internet that they wouldn't want the whole world – including you – to read.
• Create an online agreement or contract for computer use, with your kids' input.
• Encourage your kids to come to you if anybody says or does something online that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened.
• Watch out for the signs; a reluctance to use the computer or to go to school may be an indication that he or she is being cyber bullied.
• Take action if your child is being bullied online; report any incident of online harassment and physical threats to the local authorities.
• If the bully is a student at your child's school, meet with school officials and ask for help in resolving the situation.
More information is available on these key sites: safety.sympatico.msn.ca; bewebaware.ca; kidshelphone.ca.
- News Canada