What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is bullying using the internet, a mobile phone or other technology like a digital camera to hurt or embarrass someone. This means bullying can occur even when the child is at home.
Cyber-bullying can include:
· - Posting nasty or threatening comments through the internet (eg. Emails, facebook, bebo, or game sites such as stardoll.com) or by cell-phone
· - Sending anonymous messages
· - Hacking existing website accounts or creating fake profiles for people they want to intimidate or embarrass.
· - Circulating photos or videos of people they are targeting – these can be real images or digitally altered to cause offence or embarrass the victim.
· - Spreading rumours
According to the National Crime Prevention Centerover 40% of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online during 2010.
Research in the UK has shown that because cyber-bullying can continue away from school and at any time of the day or night it often has more of an impact than physical bullying.
Anonymous text messages can make the person being bullied feel like there's no escape.
When pictures or videos are put online these can embarrass the child in front of the whole school and can rapidly spread and be viewed by anyone all over the world. Even if the original bullying website or video is deleted it can be saved by individuals and can be hard to remove completely.
What can I do to prevent cyberbullying?
· 1. Talk with your children about cyber-bullying and make sure they understand the issue. Help them to know it is against the law to threaten people.
· 2. Reassure your child that you will not prevent them from using the internet or cell-phone if they tell you about cyber-bullying.
· 3. Advise your child to be careful who they give their mobile number and email address to and to not pass on friends' numbers or email addresses without asking them first.
· 4. Remind them not to respond to texts from people they don’t know.
· 5. Talk with your child about what images, if posted online or sent on a mobile phone, could get sent on to others and be used to bully or embarrass them.
What can I do if a child is being cyber-bullied?
· 1. Congratulate the child for telling you.
· 2. Keep evidence by saving phone messages and by taking photos of the website screen. This may be used later if you report the bullying to school or the police.
· 3. If physical threats are made, contact the police. Making threats of harm is a crime in New Zealand and in many other countries.
Cyberbullying and school
If you think the person bullying your child is at your child’s school, tell the Principal as soon as possible.
According to the law in New Zealand, schools are to provide a “safe physical and emotional environment for students” (Education Act 1998). This includes cyber-bullying because it has implications on the child's well-being at school even when it is done outside of school.
Cyberbullying on websites
Report internet cyberbyllying to the website where the bullying took place - usually there is a “Report Abuse” button or "Safety" link.
Cyberbullying on IM / online chat
If you can, block the bullying messages coming through.
Take screenshots of any bullying messages sent and save them as evidence.
Cyberbullying and mobile phones
Contact your phone company and ask them to trace the number sending messages, they can warn the bully to stop sending messages or they could lose their number or access to the network. Or as a parent, you could ring the number that appears on the phone yourself and explain to the bully that what they are doing is unacceptable and you will be contacting their school, their parents and the police if they don't stop.
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