Cyberbullying, the Silent Danger to our Children: Three Crucial Steps to Bringing Awareness
With the dominance of social media, shared content, comments and photos can potentially be negative, hurtful and permanent on your public record. Children who are victims of cyberbullying experience anxiety, fear, depression and low self-esteem. Cyberbullying increases the risk of suicide in children; it is time to report and address this behavior.
1. UNDERSTANDING HOW CYBERBULLYING OCCURS.
Cyberbullying takes place over electronic devices and through social media, where others can see the content shared that could be false, hateful or mean. The content can be personal, private, or discriminatory against someone to bring embarrassment or humiliation. Young people who encourage someone to commit suicide can be prosecuted in some states, and when cyberbullying is not addressed, it can negatively impact the lives of all who are involved.
2. PREVENTING CYBERBULLYING.
Be involved in your child’s daily activities can help keep the line of communication open, and allows you to establish rules for a safe environment. Parents play a big role in preventing cyberbullying, by teaching their kids to identify when it happens. When treating others with respect, your child will see you as their role model, creating a comfortable environment to let you know if they are being cyberbullied.
3. ESTABLISHING AWARENESS.
Dialogue creates opportunities to establish awareness. It is important to understand that no one should tell a child to ignore cyberbullying. Being empathetic and contacting officials that can act as mediators, as a school counselor, can help us to understand why it happened, like issues at home, abuse, or stress. Most importantly, a discussion about cyberbullying and digital behavior with your children should not be a one-time event.
ABOUT KIDS AGAINST CYBERBULLYING FOUNDATION
Founded in 2018, the Kids Against Cyberbullying Foundation is an organization created to prevent cyberbullying, and provide resources to children to feel supported in their communities. For additional information, visit www.kidsagainstcyberbullyingfoundation.com
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