CYBER-BULLYING
SPOT IT. STOP IT. SAVE LIVES.
SPOT IT. STOP IT. SAVE LIVES.
If you are a youth who is experiencing or witnessing cyber-bullying, please speak up. Tell a trusted adult, a pastor, a parent, a teacher, a friend. If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts or feelings of suicide please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
You. Are. Worth. It.
You. Are. Worth. It.
What is Cyber-bullying?
Cyber-bullying as defined by the website www.stopbullying.gov is: bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites. Examples of cyber-bullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.
|
|
Who Does it Affect?Cyber-bullying can affect anyone. Children, teens, and adults have all been victims of cyber-bullying. However, the majority of serious cyber-bullying cases involve the tween and teen age groups (ages 10-19). The following statistics are from bullyingstatistics.org, The Cyber-Bullying Research Foundation, and the Hartford County Examiner:
|
|
Signs My child is Being Cyber-Bullied
Signs your child may be experiencing or involved in cyber-bulling -from the website www.commonsensmedia.org include:
Victims of cyber-bullying are often very reluctant to tell an adult or even a friend that they are being bullied online. Victims fear this will make the bullying worse, no one will believe them, or nothing will be able to help. It is important that if a youth comes to you and expresses concerns of cyber-bullying, you listen, take them seriously, and make a plan to stop the cyber-bullying immediately.
- Behavior changes. Is his behavior especially concerning while he's using digital devices?
- Slipping grades. If schoolwork is suffering, there could be a problem.
- Moodiness. She's only happy when she's texting or on the computer -– or she's only happy when she isn't doing it.
- Habitual use. His phone is constantly buzzing and he's using the computer or texting at all hours.
- Secretive or evasive behavior. She won't let you see anything she does online or on her phone; she switches screens quickly when you walk by.
- Multiple accounts. Having several different online profiles for one social network (each with different user names and email addresses) isn't necessary, so it could be a red flag.
Victims of cyber-bullying are often very reluctant to tell an adult or even a friend that they are being bullied online. Victims fear this will make the bullying worse, no one will believe them, or nothing will be able to help. It is important that if a youth comes to you and expresses concerns of cyber-bullying, you listen, take them seriously, and make a plan to stop the cyber-bullying immediately.
How to Stop Cyber-bullying
If you or your child is being cyber-bullied, it is important to take immediate actions. Some quick tips from connectsafely.org include:
Don’t respond. If someone bullies you, remember that your reaction is usually exactly what the bully wants. It gives him or her power over you. Who wants to empower a bully?
Don’t retaliate. Getting back at the bully turns you into one and reinforces the bully’s behavior. Help avoid a whole cycle of aggression.
Save the evidence. The only good news about digital bullying is that the harassing messages can usually be captured, saved, and shown to someone who can help. Save evidence even if it’s minor stuff – in case things escalate. (Genesis Center Tip: Learn how to use the Ctrl+Prt Sc buttons. When you push both buttons at once, your computer takes a screenshot of your entire desktop including the date and time. You can then paste the picture into a program like MS Paint using Ctrl+P and save or print them.)
Block the bully. If the harassment’s coming in the form of instant messages, texts, or profile comments, do yourself a favor: Use preferences or privacy tools to block the person. If it’s in chat, leave the “room.” This may not end the problem, but you don’t need harassment in your face all the time, and no reaction sometimes makes aggressors bored so they’ll stop.
Read the full list here. Also check out stopbullying.gov for another helpful list on how to stop cyber-bullying.
Don’t respond. If someone bullies you, remember that your reaction is usually exactly what the bully wants. It gives him or her power over you. Who wants to empower a bully?
Don’t retaliate. Getting back at the bully turns you into one and reinforces the bully’s behavior. Help avoid a whole cycle of aggression.
Save the evidence. The only good news about digital bullying is that the harassing messages can usually be captured, saved, and shown to someone who can help. Save evidence even if it’s minor stuff – in case things escalate. (Genesis Center Tip: Learn how to use the Ctrl+Prt Sc buttons. When you push both buttons at once, your computer takes a screenshot of your entire desktop including the date and time. You can then paste the picture into a program like MS Paint using Ctrl+P and save or print them.)
Block the bully. If the harassment’s coming in the form of instant messages, texts, or profile comments, do yourself a favor: Use preferences or privacy tools to block the person. If it’s in chat, leave the “room.” This may not end the problem, but you don’t need harassment in your face all the time, and no reaction sometimes makes aggressors bored so they’ll stop.
Read the full list here. Also check out stopbullying.gov for another helpful list on how to stop cyber-bullying.
Popular Teen WebsitesFacebook might seem like the main website for teens and cyber-bullying, but that is actually not the case. Studies are showing a decrease in the amount of time American youth use Facebook and an increase in other more "teen-oriented" sites. These websites usually have a very low percentage of users over the age of 25, and change frequently. We will try and keep an updated list of those websites here.
Ask.fm
Similar to the old website Formspring.com, Ask.fm allows users to set up a profile and then have others ask them questions online. There is a setting that allows for anonymity and the site does not screen for sexually explicit messages, threats, or bullying (although users can report other users for this behavior). This site has been in the news lately as a few high profile suicides have involved cyber-bullying through this site. Instagram (Mobile App) Instagram is a mobile app and is allows users to post pictures that have been edited by a photo filter. Similar to Facebook, users can "like" and "follow" other user's photos. Sexually explicit (but not sexually suggestive) and violent photos are banned, however many teens compete to have a more "likes" and followers. In addition, these photos can be set to public which allows anyone to see them. Kik Messenger (Mobile App) Kik Messenger is an enhancement to the standard text message with no character limit. It includes add-ons that allow a user to add pictures and send group texts. The app has some privacy concerns including showing a user's full name and the ability to chat with strangers. Pheed (Mobile App) Pheed includes video, pictures, profiles and more. According to Forbes.com, it's the Number 1 app on the Apple App Store with the majority of it's subscribes being teens. The site allows you to charge others to subscribe to your content and also allows you to watermark your own content creating, essentially, your own brand. Snapchat (Mobile App) This app as a timer to pictures that are sent over text messages. After the allotted time is up, the picture automatically disappears from the recipients phone. Teens have been using this app to "sext" or send sexually explicit, embarrassing or goofy photos to others under the false assumption that is is safer than regular picture text because the photos are deleted. However, a savvy phone user can easily take a "screenshot" of the photo before it disappears and save it for future cyber-bullying or even forward it to others. Tumblr Tumblr is a mini blog site similar to Twitter. It allows for short blogs, usually very picture-based, to be created and shared. However, the privacy settings are difficult to navigate as you have to create a second account to even be able to access the privacy controls (a user's first account is always public), and the site does not have policies against pornography; sexually explicit videos as well as depictions of violence and drug abuse are easy to stumble across. Vine (Mobile App) Vine is a website similar to YoutTube where users can share lopping 6 second videos. It is important to note that sexually explicit videos can be found quite easily, and the privacy settings are sometimes difficult to navigate. Commonsensemedia.org has a more complete list of websites teens are visiting instead of Facebook. You can access the article by clicking here. |
Stop Cyberbullying Resources
The following websites include information about cyber-bullying, how to spot it, how to stop it, what websites are being used as platforms for cyber-bullying, and real-life stories about both those who have been cyber-bullied, and those who did the bullying.
athinline.org
This website, sponsored by MTV, is full of real life stories about the dangers of social media, cyber-bullying, and the internet from other tweens and teens. It also includes information for youth on cyber-bully prevention, online relationships, data privacy and more. beyondthebully.com This website focuses on prevention and intervention of bullying in all forms. bullyingstatistics.org Statistics of bullying -in all forms- are gathered from various studies and featured on this website. Helpful for parents and those who work with youth in identifying bullying trends and those who are most at risk of being bullied. connectsafely.org Includes news and information on social media for parents and teens. commonsensemedia.org This fantastic website includes reviews of websites, games, and movies, articles for parents, full downloadable lesson plans for teaching kids of all ages about internet safety, and much more. Cyber-Bullying Research Center Full of information and resources for teens, parents and educators about cyber-bullying. Cyber-Bullying Prevention Tips for Kids A short video for kids from the website, commonsenmedia.org, that talks about the dangers of cyber-bullying and how to prevent it. itgetsbetter.org A website for LGBT youth to find hope, courage, and support in the face of harassment or bullying. pacerteensagainstbullying.com Celebrity Demi Lovato is the spokesperson of this very informative website that aims to teach kids empathy and understanding toward those who are being bullied as well as empower victims to speak up and speak out. stopbullying.gov This website focuses on the immediate intervention and prevention of bullying. It has crisis information and suicide prevention information for teens and adults. stopbullying.gov/kids This sections of stopbullying.gov focuses on empowering kids and tweens to take a stand against bullying, be aware of the risks and circumstances where they might become victims of bullying, and how to respond to cyber-bullying. thatsnotcool.com A quirky website for tweens and teens about controlling your online image. The Death of Rebecca Sedwick and Cyberbullying: The Need to Do More An article from commonsensemedia.org written by Jim Steyer that highlights the excessive cyber-bullying Rebecca Sedwick endured on sites like Ask.fm, Voxer, and Kik Messenger, before tragically taking her own life. uknowkids.com A monitoring website for parents to track and view their child's online activities. It includes articles and helpful tips on keeping your child safe on the internet. wiredsafety.org An educational site designed to help educate and prevent internet dangers. it has information for tweens, teens, and parents, as well as a special cyber-bullying page. |
Online resources can include links to websites, articles, videos, blogs, pictures, social media, games, and more (some of these links may be direct downloads to resources The Genesis Center has permission to distribute. Please see our copyright page for more information). Resources available for check out can include curriculum, books, videos, DVDs, software and more, but they always have to be checked out by The Genesis Center and returned after use.
