Cyber Bullying And What You Can Do About It
As a parent, one of the things that you have innate fears about is bullying. Its understandable; of course you do not want your child to be bullied by anyone. It can be a very traumatic experience, and some people are still affected by past bullying even well into their adult lives. Today, one of the most common and dangerous forms of bullying is cyber bullying. In this modern age, everyone is on the Internet, has a mobile phone, and is connected to one another is some sort of way. Cyber bullying is when a child up to teen years is being bullied via threats, harassment, humiliation, or embarrassment through these modern forms of technology. It is very dangerous, but there are some things that you can do.
Parents can sometimes feel very helpless when it comes to their child being cyber bullied because they feel that they are inept at the subject. On the contrary, parents can actually fight against cyber bullying through the use of certain types of modern technology as well. Google, for example, has a free service called Google Alert. How it works is that you will enter certain names, phrases or key words that you want Google to alert you of. That way, every time your child's name comes up somewhere on the Internet, you will be sent an email notification.
Facebook, on the other hand, is also cracking down on cyber bullying, as it has happened before. They have already begun security measures so that they can ensure that children are safe from pedophiles, pornography, as well as cyber bullies. The one thing you can do to watch out for cyber bullying that may be happening on Facebook is to be-friend your child on the popular social network. A lot of the time, when the child is already of age, parents allow them to not be friends so that they can have their privacy. However, if a child is still young and you are still making their decisions for them, you need to assert that you need to be there so that you can properly parent them even when online.
Cyber bullying does not have to have the power that it already has. Parents, and the kids as well, can very much fight back and not let it get worse than it already is. Stay vigilant, stay understanding, and remember that your child deserves the right to be able to enjoy the Internet and mobile technologies carefree and free from emotional harm.
About the Author
William is a freelance writer living in Kitchener with his wife and baby daughter. He currently publishes a helpful baby product site based on his experiences with his own baby at http://babydollstroller.net/
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