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Parenting Tips > Article
Parenting Tips
Cyber-Bullying
by David Geldbart
School-aged children quickly learn to make friends, display
preferences, and establish their own social circles. This
interaction used to take place in person or via notes, letters, or
the home telephone. Affordable technology has now provided our
children with new methods of communicating, including various
methods on the Internet and cell phone text messages.
Unfortunately, those communication channels can also be used as
channels for harassment or bullying, bringing this childhood
threat from the school playground and into our homes.
Cyber-bullying can range from the
undesired disclosure of personal information to unwanted negative
remarks to threats. It can include repeatedly making fun of
another person using emails, text messages, or instant messages;
using Internet forums to post messages intended to harm, damage,
humiliate, or isolate another person; and posting unflattering
photos of someone on a website.
Tips for children:
-
Just like in real life, on the
Internet there is a difference between what is right and what is
wrong. If a message or website makes you uncomfortable, tell your
mom or dad.
-
Never give out your real information
on the Internet, especially your name, school, etc., or tell
anyone your passwords.
-
Create a free email address (like
Gmail or Hotmail) and use it for Internet websites. If someone
uses it to harass you, you can just delete that address.
-
On sites like Facebook and MySpace,
keep your profile private.
-
Refuse to support cyberbullying. Don’t
pass on hurtful messages, and tell your friends to stop
cyberbullying. Show people the respect you would want them to show
to you.
Tips for parents:
-
If you have younger children, keep the
computer in a common area where you can watch them.
-
Talk to your children about what they
are doing online. Learn about the technology that they are using,
like instant messaging and social websites.
-
Tell your children that bullying is
not right and it is not their fault if they are bullied. Encourage
them to tell you about anything that is bothering them and
reassure them that they won’t get into trouble with you.
More resources:
Cyber-bullying is a popular topic, and
many groups, governments and schools provide information on it
through various websites. Here are a few examples:
Talk to David Geldbart with Computer
Troubleshooter about how you can protect your family online. You
can contact him at (727)591-2951.
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