Yesterday, to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week, the Department for Education (DfE) launched new research indicating that cyberbullying is on the rise.
To help young people deal with this growing risk we have some top tips:
- Always respect others: be careful what you say online and what images you send.
- Think before you send: whatever you send can be made public very quickly and could stay online forever.
- Keep it private! Only give your mobile number, personal email address and other contact details to trusted friends. If you are active on social networking services think about what you are sharing and who you are sharing it with. You can set your privacy settings to limit who can see your content.
- Block the bully: learn how to block or report someone who is behaving badly.
- Don’t retaliate or reply!
- Save the evidence: learn how to keep records of upsetting or mean messages, pictures or online conversations.
- Make sure you tell:
- Your parent/carer or an adult you trust.
- Your school: your teacher or the anti-bullying coordinator can help you
- Report it to the social network or app: you can check their help centre to see where to report concerns
- Remember you can visit ChildLine to chat to a counsellor online, or call 0800 1111.
Finally, don’t just stand there, if you see cyberbullying going on, support the victim and report the bullying!
For more details about how to get involved in Anti-Bullying Week read our blog: http://childnet.eightarms.co.uk/blog/make-a-noise-for-anti-bullying-week
