Bullying was all there from school premises to buses and on the playground. Well, it has not been wiped out and has evolved to a more dangerous entity through the form of cyberbullying. The overall harassment concept has moved on to digital platforms where texts, social media, and emails are used to threaten someone or simply hamper their lives.
It’s no fun because there’s not a reverse button to undo the action. Things can escalate to their worst and might end in tragedy. Spreading lies or embarrassing content over social media can be counted as cyberbullying and it can go as powerful as devastating anyone’s life. So, we need to stop these. Here’s how you can stop cyberbullying to a great extent.
Talk to Someone
The majority of cases of cyberbullying happen with teenagers. According to a survey, more than 60% of teenagers consider cyberbullying a real problem. However, most teenagers don’t believe that schools, social media authorities, or politically empowered people can help them out. On the other hand, they keep it a secret from their parents as well if they are getting bullied on cyber.
Therefore, the lack of communication can weaken the victim. Parents must take a step forward in communicating with their children. Teenagers should open up more often to parents or who they trust about cyberbullying. It’s important to take serious action if you feel like your child has been bullied. Contacting the school administration or social media authorities can assist in this case.
Keep Evidence
If you’re receiving inappropriate images, texts, or threats from any particular one over text messages, email, and chats, keep them saved. If anything goes out of control you can clearly use those pieces of evidence for your own sake of innocence. Digital evidence can really help you to get out of unwanted nuisance.
Restrict Engagement
When you’re aware that you are receiving inappropriate content or threats from a stranger or you know, then it would be better that you stop engaging with them. Engaging with them will just increase your annoyance and anxiety and it can lead you to make a wrong decision. If it’s on social media then you can easily block them and report their accounts. Generally, any bully just wants to turn the anger into his or her victim. And, you have to prevent it from happening.
Study the Signs
This trick is specifically for parents. They have to understand how smartphones have inevitably become a necessity for every student and teenager. If your children are not expressing anything though you can notice anything which is not normal then you should be alert. Signs can vary but they might be similar in most cases of cyberbullying.
You might find that your kids are losing interest in what they were great at, or they might be skipping classes, or you can’t just justify a sudden fall in grades. Anything can happen; if you can observe any symptoms of depression, talk to them cordially. In case you take away his or her smart devices, the child can protest in an aggressive way. So, take the help of an expert to resolve such issues.
Protect Data
It feels good to share what you did all along the day on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media. But, we have an objection to this. Please don’t share anything and everything that’s too personal on your FB and Insta accounts. Any bully can take advantage of this if you’re not aware enough.
They can hack into your personal data and use them to bully you on digital platforms. Keep posts private or let them circulate among your friends using dedicated features. If your child is minor then you can turn on the data security solutions to take help from cybersecurity aspects and keep passwords protected.
How to Heal from Cyberbullying?
If your child has suffered from cyberbullying then contact a renowned psychologist to gain his or her self-esteem back. If we don’t stand together for our loved ones then unexpected things can happen. So, it’s better to report cyberbullying rather than regretting past mistakes. Talk to the cyber victims and let them know that you are with them. Bring the positivity back to them to initiate a new self-empowered future.
Digitally Inclusive 