Recognizing Cyberbully Dangers

One of the worst kinds of relational bullying is cyberbullying, which is a growing problem in this technological day and age. Cyberbullies either post lies or gossip about their victims in chat rooms or on Web sites or they insult victims in instant-messaging (IM) sessions. The anonymity of this type of bullying means that it tends to get very ugly, very quickly. And tracking down a cyberbully can be very difficult, depending on how computer-savvy the bully is and how well you and/or your child know your own way around cyberspace. Most experts in the field of cyberbullying advise kids to simply ignore a one-time incident because responding to taunts or threats is likely to make the situation worse.

If your child is being bombarded with threats and insults, though, you should save and print all the messages you can and take them to your child's principal. School officials should be trained in combating this type of harassment, and many times, messages can be traced back to a specific computer. You can also contact the police if the threats are physical in nature (like someone telling your child she's going to be harmed).

To prevent this type of bullying in the first place, advise your child to only chat with known buddies and not to give out personal information to anyone who isn't already an established pal. Many times, kids are "baited" into chatting by acquaintances who then turn around and use the children's words against them.

rack'm said:

School officials should be trained in combating this type of harassment

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You have GOT to be kidding - maybe if your "school" is MIT or something.

To prevent this type of bullying in the first place, advise your child to only chat with known buddies and not to give out personal information to anyone who isn't already an established pal.

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This is the best advice. My kids have a restricted IM buddy list - they can't receive IMs from anyone not on that list. They also have their MySpace set so that only invited friends can view it. Don't just take their word for it - check and make sure.

"Keeping kids safe on the internet" isn't really that difficult. Most situations where a cybernut makes personal contact with your kid, the kid gave them the information and invited them to do so. "Don't talk to strangers" is still good advice but, just like in real life, the kid has to actually abide by that rule for it to be effective.

My advice is keep the kids off the internet. Really why do they need a chat program at all or a personal webpage? Hand them the phone and tell them to call any buddy they want.