My daughters look just alike, but are as different as night and day. My younger daughter is spunky, outgoing and impulsive while my older daughter is quiet, thoughtful and sensitive.
I worry about both of them.
Not because of anything that they’ll do, but because of others. I worry about cyber bullying and internet danger and I’m already thinking about ways to prevent it from happening to them.
Since my younger daughter is so outgoing and impulsive, I worry about her talking to the wrong people online. And my older daughter is sensitive, so I worry that she’ll have a more difficult time ignoring cyber bullying.
In this time of social media, our children are online more often and at a younger age than ever before. In fact, one in three parents believe that their teens are more tech-savvy than they are. So how do parents help keep their children safe online?
Ways to help prevent cyber bullying and internet danger:
• Set guidelines and rules for when your children can be online and for the types of content they are allowed to access.
• Monitor what your children see and who they are talking to online.
• Enable parental controls on your computers so that you children do not access inappropriate websites.
• See how cyber smart you are by taking the Cyber Survivor Challenge Quiz.
Most importantly, if you’re concerned about cyber bullying and internet danger, familiarize yourself with common cyber bullying occurrences and techniques. Then learn how to help your child avoid and deal with them.
There are some great videos to help you on CyberSafeFutures.org.
It is so important to make sure that we keep our kids safe from Internet bullying because it is real. Also school bullying needs to be dealt with and the bully needs to be disciplined. Nothing damages a child’s self esteem more than bullying. It must be stopped wherever it is found!
cyber bullying needs to be stopped not only for children but adults as well.
Here’s something else to watch out for…when you label something as “bullying” on behalf of yourself or someone else because the behavior is mean, hurtful, attacking, you name it…and then the bully (or others, believe it or not) ATTACK you for “playing the bullying card.” Then they say you’re being a baby, or too “sensitive,” or that you’re trying to “win” by saying that you’re being bullied.
Not kidding.
I’ve seen it happen, even with adults, as of late. In my opinion (and as a person who has been bullied her entire life, off and on — and I know it when I see it, trust me…), that’s bullying, too.
How about this? Just. Be. Nice. Period. Why is that such an outrageous notion?
Cyber bullying, can be just as harmful, if not more so than the bullying tactics we grew up with. My youngest child is almost 17 years old, just found out what the internet and facebook is all about. Her time on the net is limited and all activity is done at the kitchen table so her dad and I can watch everything that is going on.
I wish bullying in general would stop. Having been through it, it sticks with you as an adult and fear my daughter will have the same issues in school. There’s just no excuse for it!
cyber bulling is so serious.. many kids kill themselves over this stuff…