Cyberbullying is a huge problem among a variety of groups. However, while many people can be the target of cyberbullying, it’s an especially prominent concern for children, who often aren’t able to identify and deal with cyberbullying as easily as adults. If you have children who are on the internet in any capacity, you need to teach them how to deal with cyberbullying. Here are five things you can do for your child.
1. Teach Strong Boundaries
Strong boundaries are a crucial part of standing up to cyberbullying. Someone who has very strong boundaries is much more likely to tell a cyberbully to stop or to block the cyberbully once things get out of hand, rather than someone who has a harder time asserting their boundaries. Teach your children that boundaries are important, and they should be something that other people listen to. It’ll set them up for success later in life.
2. Take Your Children’s Fears and Concerns Seriously
Too often, parents brush off their children’s fears and concerns. If your child comes to you worried about something, you should always help them understand that it’s a good idea for them to come to you with those fears. If you make them feel stupid or cowardly for sharing those fears with you, they’re less likely to come to you when they’re facing a truly devastating problem like severe cyberbullying. Taking these concerns seriously will help your children recognize that you’re a safe place to talk about these fears.
3. Help Your Children Learn When They May Need To Step Away
Sometimes, one of the best ways to help with cyberbullying is just to step away from the platform that the cyberbullying is occurring on. This isn’t always possible, especially when online creators are the ones being cyberbullied, but it can be a good first step. Teach your children that it’s okay to just disengage; you don’t need to allow someone to retain power over you online if you don’t want to. Disengaging is always a powerful tool for you to use.
4. Create an Encouraging and Supportive Relationship With Your Children
One of the first things that experts recommend when children are faced with cyberbullying is to talk with a trusted adult. Ideally, you want to make sure that trusted adult is you. However, unfortunately, many children don’t have an encouraging relationship with their parents, leaving them wary of discussing their online experiences, including cyberbullying, with their parents. Ideally, you want to make sure that as soon as your child is experiencing issues online, they’re willing to come to you and ask you for help.
5. Make Sure Your Children Know About the Potential Dangers of Social Media
If you never tell your children that social media can be dangerous, they’ll never know. Children don’t inherently understand that social media can be dangerous any more than they inherently understand that they shouldn’t play in the street. You can help your children understand that social media can be dangerous with the help of PeopleFinders.
PeopleFinders provides a wealth of information, including pages for parents to learn about the potential dangers of social media and the internet at large. No matter who you are, you probably don’t know as much about the potential pitfalls of social media as you might like. These pieces of information from PeopleFinders can be crucial in helping you and your child understand why it’s a good idea to take safety precautions online.
Conclusion
There are plenty of possible dangers online, and one of those potential dangers is cyberbullying. While not everyone will experience cyberbullying online, it’s important to know how to deal with it whenever it does arise. With a bit of help from PeopleFinders, you can understand the potential dangers of social media, as well as a few ways that you can stay safe. To help your kids with cyberbullying, make sure you follow all of these tips.
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