By Blair Campbell
If you are concerned that your child is at risk for being a victim of cyberbullying, you can take proactive steps and intervene before things get out of hand. The way you and your child respond may even help break the cycle of bullying in your community.
Prohibiting your kids from participating online is not a solution. It doesn’t work—they’ll just find a way to do it out of your presence and will not feel comfortable communicating with or confiding in you if they run into a problem. Rather, you need to strike a balance between policing their activity and offering them constructive guidance. Here are some positive ways you can talk to your kids about and work with them to prevent cyberbullying:
blair campbell
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By Blair Campbell
Blair Campbell
When we began offering Safe and Secure Online in Canada last year, I lead a class of 120 students in which a young girl, following the cyberbullying video in the presentation, broke down crying and said, “If I report it, will it stop?” She struggled to regain her composure during the presentation.
A teacher afterward said that the school was aware of what she was dealing with and was the reason they brought Safe and Secure Online to their school. It was awful to watch this young girl – who couldn’t have been more than 13 – struggling so much when faced with a discussion about this painful experience, knowing some of the bullies were likely sitting in the room.