Cyberbullying
The feeling of anonymity on the web makes it a perfect playground for students to engage in cruel behavior. A study from the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) says that 43 percent of teens reported being victims of cyberbullying in the past year.
Cyberbullying can consist of spreading lies and rumors about a person, insulting and targeting a student's sexuality, physical appearance, deceiving students into revealing personal information and then publishing it, and/or posting personally identifiable information or photos without the victim's consent. Technology used may include cell phones, Instant Message programs, chat rooms, e-mail, websites, polls, blogs etc.
What you and your child should do:
Additional Resources
CERT: Dealing with Cyberbullies
Microsoft: Dealing with game cyberbullies and griefers
Cyberbullying can consist of spreading lies and rumors about a person, insulting and targeting a student's sexuality, physical appearance, deceiving students into revealing personal information and then publishing it, and/or posting personally identifiable information or photos without the victim's consent. Technology used may include cell phones, Instant Message programs, chat rooms, e-mail, websites, polls, blogs etc.
What you and your child should do:
- Tell the person harassing you in straight forward terms, "Leave me alone, stop harassing me. Do not contact me again."
- Do not reply to anything else the harasser says. No replies to emails, taunts or lies said about you.
- Log all chats and IMs and save a copy as evidence. Save all e-mails and text messages as well as voicemails or voice messages. Take screen shots as well. Print all evidence, but keep the files on your hard drive.
- In the case of email harassment you need to contact the harasser's ISP (Internet Service Provider) and make a complaint. If an offending website has been posted about you, contact the web hosting service. If there are posts on a forum or bulletin board, contact the moderators. All phone interactions should be reported to the phone company.
- If the harassment is coming from other students at the school, contact your school's administration to see what action they would be willing to take.
- Keep in mind that some types of bullying (threats to your child, or exposing them to danger) may be illegal. Report it to local law enforcement along with copies of the materials that you have collected.
Additional Resources
CERT: Dealing with Cyberbullies
Microsoft: Dealing with game cyberbullies and griefers
