5 Easy Effective Ways to Protect Your Child from Cyberbullying Online | Storm Internet

We all worry about our children’s safety online, recent studies have shown that the greatest risk to kids online comes from other kids through what’s called “cyberbullying.” In this article we’ll take an in-depth look at what Cyberbullying is, and how you can keep your kids safe.

Cyberbullying is bullying or teasing which takes place using electronic devices or more recently on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The target may be bombarded by mean text messages, posts, or altered pictures both on and offline.

Besides the regular problems bullying can cause such as loss of self esteem, and self worth, cyberbullying is particularly insidious since it can happen 24 hours a day 7 days a week and reach children even when they are home in the safety of their house or with their parents.

Another problem with cyberbullying is that it can be done anonymously and using social networking sites spread to an entire, class, grade or school very quickly and even if the offending images or posts are removed, nothing really ever leaves the internet once it is published and has been seen and screenshotted.

Because this is a relatively new problem, you may not know what you can do as a parent to protect your child.

Here’s the 5 most effective ways we’ve come across.

The 5 Most Effective Ways To Protect Your Child From Cyberbullying Online:

• Monitor the pictures your child uploads
  Right now Instagram the photo sharing application is currently the fastest growing social media site with 300 million users up from 200 million in 2014. As a parent it is your responsibility to monitor the pictures your child is uploading, and to educate them about how certain pictures are not a good idea (anything with drugs, alcohol, inappropriate situations) and how pictures can be manipulated and used by cyberbullies… or worse. There are a variety of different ways to monitor your child’s social media feeds from demanding their passwords to making sure that they allow you to follow them. There are also a lot of ways around these monitoring ideas, so stay vigilant and keep up to date on what the latest photo sharing software is and what accounts your child posts to.
• Know who your children are talking to online
  This seems like simple advice, but you’d be surprised how many parents don’t follow it. If you see your kids talking to someone a lot online you should ask who it is and be prepared to look at their profiles and public information. It’s also a good idea to periodically monitor who follows or is friends with your children on various social media sites. There is no reason any adults other than family members or close family friends should be following or friending your children and you should immediately investigate any adults you see lurking or commenting on your children’s posts. In addition to adults you want to look at the comments on your children’s posts to look for evidence of cyberbullying. What is good-natured razzing between friends to one child is online bullying to another. Be sure to ask your child how they feel about even playful teasing as sometimes kids can be afraid to ask their friends to stop “joking around” with them even if they find it hurtful.
• Monitor Your Child’s mobile phone
  Another way to protect your child from cyberbullying is to monitor your child’s mobile phone. While this sounds drastic you can get an idea of not only who your child is talking to but what inappropriate conversations they are having. While you pay the bills, you have the right to see what’s on their mobile phone at any time you choose. Many times there are things happening that make your child feel uncomfortable but that they are not assertive enough to stand up for themselves, having you see and ask about these texts or messages may be the push your child needs to stand up for themselves.
• Beware bad online “neighbourhoods”
  The same way that you wouldn’t let your child hang out in potentially dangerous physical locations, you shouldn’t allow your children to hang out in dangerous places online. The most dangerous places for children to hangout are message boards and chat rooms where predators often search for prey, and online bullying is so prevalent there is a disarming name for it (trolling). In addition to chat rooms and message boards, you want to make sure your child isn’t anywhere they’ll be interacting with adults unnecessarily. While most adults are harmless to children there is something sinister about adults who want to speak with children online of their own volition. The more you can keep your kids out of these bad neighbourhoods the safer they will be.
• Use monitoring software
  The last tip I want to share with you is the most extreme and that is the use of monitoring software to watch your child’s activities online. There are a variety of different types of monitoring software from key loggers that will let you learn your child’s passwords to spyware that allows you to monitor their activities online. If your child is an active Internet user, it’s a good idea to invest in some sort of monitoring software and check up on their activity monthly. By using monitoring software, you’ll be able to know exactly what your child is doing online so you can be sure they are safe from bullying or worse.

Cyberbullying has affected the way our children interact not just with their peers but also with total strangers over the Internet. Your child is now a target for cyber bullies 24 hours a day 7 days a week, so it’s important to understand how and where cyberbullying happens.

It is human nature to want to protect your children and with the 5 ways I’ve shared with you in this article, you’ll be able to keep your child safe from cyberbullying completely!