Dark side

With the alarming increase rate of cyber bullying cases, ways to prevent and reduce cyber bullying has been been widely discussed and looked into. Prevention and education is very important in order to reduce the rates of cyber bully.

Prevention methods against cyber bullying can be generally classified into 3 areas :

School

School acts as a very important place to spread the methods of prevention against cyber bullying as most of the victims affected by cyber bullying are mostly youths and children. They are more likely to be affected by these online threats and not have any idea on how to handle it. Education can be done in school can teach the children about the consequences of cyber bullying and also on how they can help prevent and take a stand against it.

Parents

Problems arises from cyber bullying occurs when victims feel that they have been abused in the cyber world, but have no one to talk and turn to for help. Parents are usually the most trusted people that children go to when things go wrong, however parents tend to oversee and also misinterpret the intentions of their children.

Parents should also be educated on the effects of cyber bullying and how they can help in prevention. They also should educate their children of the positive etiquette on the net and also how they should respond to cyber bullies. Immediate action should be taken in any case that their children should be a victim of cyber bullying.

There are certain signs of cyber bullying that parents should take note of :

Oneself

Prevention starts from yourself. Victims should be educated on how they should handle cyber bullying. There are certain "stay safe tips" that should be followed when having an encounter with cyber bullying. This tips can help victims protect themselves and hopefully put a stop to cyber bullying.

Stay Safe Tips 

Stop

Do not do anything and stop all interaction with the cyber bully.

Ignore

Do not respond or retaliate

Block

Limit communications to you and block the bully. Delete and do not read all messages sent from the bullies.

Save

 

Take evidence and save the proof of bully. This can important proof that can be used against the bullies.

Tell

Get a trusted adult whom you believe to help. Show them the evidence of bullying and get them to help.

References

Cyber Bullying Prevention Retrieved April 21, 2012, from http://www.cyberbullyingprevention.com/prevention.shtml

 
Preventing Cyber bullying: Top ten tips for parents. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://www.cyberbullying.us/Top_Ten_Tips_Parents_Cyberbullying_Prevention.pdf

Ten tips to prevent cyber bullying. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://www.hotchalk.com/mydesk/index.php/back-to-school-tips/312-ten-tips-to-prevent-cyberbullying

Eight ways to deal with cyber bullies. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://us.norton.com/familyresources/resources.jsp?title=ar_deal_with_cyberbullies

Take a stand against cyber bullying. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/take_action/take_a_stand_against_cyberbullying.html

Standing up to cyber bullying. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://www.commonsensemedia.org/new/standing-cyberbullying