Cyber-bullying is defined as the harassment of a child by a peer (or peers) through electronic means. This can come in the form in degrading instant messages, chiding emails sent en mass to a child's class, or nasty posts on social networking sites . Cyber-bullying doesn't discriminate by age, race, socioeconomic situation, or religion, and is the fastest rising causes of depression among young people. Whether you're a parent or a child, its necessary to follow the proper steps towards preventing cyber-bullying and prevent destructive behavior.
1. Don't encourage cyber-bullying. In the words of Mahatma Ghandi, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind." In other words, don't allow your friends or children resort to cyber-bullying because they've received bullying. Reinforcing this type of negative behavior will only embolden the bully and encourage more of this type of behavior. If necessary, speak with the proper authority (school official, law enforcement) to ensure that this type of harassment does not occur.
2. Don't post embarrassing pictures online. If you're a student, the last thing you want to do is to post embarrassing or suggestive pictures of yourself or your friends on the Internet. This is one of the easiest ways to invite cyber-bullying-all it takes is one wayward comment for people to start getting offended or, worse yet, hurting each others' feelings. If you're confused about this comment, take a second to think, "Would my parents want to see this picture of me/my friends?" If the answer is no, then it's best to leave that picture as far away from Facebook or MySpace as possible.
3. If you know that someone is being bullied over the Internet, tell someone. This is one of the easiest ways to prevent cyber-bullying. If you know it's happening, be sure to tell a parent, teacher, or other authority figure about what's going on. The most tragic part about cyber-bullying is that the only reason it's able to flourish as it does is because many people fail to report its incidences.
4. Don't send abusive emails about other people to your friends. You wouldn't want this kind of thing to happen to you, so why do it to some other person? If you're a parent and you see your child doing something like this, it's your responsibility to talk to them about the repercussions of their actions and how negatively it can influence one student's life.
5. Set ground rules for Internet use. This is one of the easiest and most-effective ways to prevent a student from cyber-bullying. By setting rules as to how often one is allowed to use the computer, or by monitoring your child's usage of the World Wide Web, you are doing your part in taking a stance against cyber-bullying. By ensuring that they exercise nothing but the highest level of civility when using their technology, you're teaching them the importance of conducting themselves with a high level of maturity and interacting with their classmates with complete respect.
Cyber-bullying is easy enough to prevent, as long as you and your children understand that one simply needs to be mindful about their actions and how they interact with others. Furthermore, if they or someone they know becomes the target of cyber-bullying, the best thing that can be done is to inform a figure of authority about the situation.
