by John Walsh
I’ve spoken out many times about the Internet’s “dark side” – about how sick predators use online technology to hunt their victims. But sex predators aren’t the only ones targeting our children online. Bullying has always been a problem for kids, but now some out-of-control youngsters do their menacing online. It’s called Cyberbullying. These bullies use social networking sites, cell phone text messages, instant messages and emails to hurt or embarrass other kids. They know how to make themselves anonymous in their attacks, so the targeted kids often don’t even know who’s hurting them.
According to the National Crime Prevention Council, 43% of teens have been victims of cyberbullying in the last year. Many of the bullies probably think it’s a joke. Believe me, there’s nothing funny about this. Kids have committed suicide over this kind of embarrassment.
So, how do we deal with this? Well, for one thing, parents need to get involved with what their kids are doing online. I can’t say this enough: as a parent, it’s your responsibility to know what your child is doing in cyberspace, and to keep your kids safe on the internet. Don’t count on your teen to come to you if they’ve been a victim. Most of the time, they won’t.
- Put the computer in a high-traffic area of your home – never in your child’s bedroom where you can’t keep tabs on them.
- Make sure your teen knows never to give out any personal information online.
- Check out this video from Netsmartz.org for some good ideas about how to talk to your kids about cyberbullying.
- Download “Stop Cyberbullying Before it Starts” from the National Crime Prevention Council here.
You can use the growing problem of cyberbullying as an opportunity to sit down at the computer with your kids and get to know what they’re doing online. Taking a little time with your kid can go a long way to keeping them safe – and there’s nothing more important than that!
3 Comments on "There’s Nothing Funny About A Cyberbully"
Marian Merritt
Excellent advice John! We parents need to have a conversation (an ongoing conversation) with our children to discuss what is happening with them, their technology (not just the computer) and their “online lives”.
Begin by asking them about their favorite websites, or better yet, ask about their friends’ favorite websites. Ask if anything wierd or surprising has occurred while they or a friend were online. Anything that upset them? Even if your child denies anything bad has ever happened, you can ask them what they think a kid should do if someone is mean to them online, or if someone sends them an upsetting picture or message. Get that conversation going!
Marian Merritt, Symantec’s Internet Safety Advocate
Teri Tyler
US society sends mixed messages about bullying, including cyberbullying. The bigwigs in US society often get rich by bullying and bilking others, especially the less fortunate.
There are also elements that deify slilckness,and running games on people. And there is tolerance of abusing helpless people in S&M sex rackets, including children.
You can tell children that bullying is wrong, but when they see it tolerated in adult society, they do as adults do, not as they say.
Children must also wonder how authorities will respond when they report bullies who are higher in social status than themselves.
Adrianna
I think it is a good thing to have amw.com because then people will know who to look out for ,and will help police and investigaters and help themselves to not get hurt.Thankyou for looking out for the victims and thankyou for making all the americas most most wanted programs because some people don’t know about it and others can tell who to look out for .So thankyou americas most wanted. love ,Adrianna p:s I don’t miss a single show.
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