Anti- Cyberbullying Awareness Campaign Kicks Off

Who is a Cyberbully?

Children who are too
Young to
Be left alone with
Enough time to be
Rude, hurtful and cruel.
Being that most of these children are
Under the age of 18, it
Lies with the parents to
Limit uncensored access to the internet. Our
Young people depend on it!

I was one of many parents asked to contribute to the first ever anti- cyberbullying awareness campaign put together by my friend, colleague, author and teen coach- Vanessa Van Petten. Vanessa has been a long time advocate for protecting our youth online and authored a fantastic ebook- The Dirt E-Secrets of an Internet Kid. She asked us to share what we think about cyberbullying and what our advice would be in an effort to stop it.

As a mother of 4, one who started middle school this year, I have observed how kids interact with one another and at times it’s downright painful to watch. As if it’s not hard enough for kids this age to deal with the stress and pressure they face on a daily basis while interacting with kids face to face, now they have to deal with the faceless torment that enters the house through a cable wire.

We all know what a bully is. Someone who pushes the little guy around; steals lunch money; pokes fun of a fellow class mate; calls people names or makes other mean spirited comments; and acts out their aggression on some unfortunate kid who doesn’t have the support to defend himself or never felt he needed to.

A cyberbully is all of these things and more. Now our children (if allowed unsupervised or excessive access to the internet) can be under attack at any hour of the day or night and once it’s been done online, its there forever. It also deprives children of the ability to work things out (which they often do) on their own, because once something enters cyberspace it can be accessed by countless numbers of people and passed on to many more.

So what can parents do to put a stop to cyberbullying?

The most important thing parents can do to reduce the potential that their child could become a cyberbully is to pay attention.

Know what your kids are doing.

Talk to them about what it means to be kind to others (and talk to them often).

Limit the amount of unsupervised time they are on the internet.

Monitor how they interact with friends, siblings, authority figures, even animals.

Restrict their ability to participate in social networking sites (especially if they are underage) where they can spread hurtful things about others.

The most important thing parents can do to reduce the potential that their child could become a victim to a cyberbully is to pay attention. Pay attention to their mood. Often times the first sign that something is bothering a child is a shift in their behavior.

Does she seem depressed? Emotional- angry or sad

Is he avoiding interaction with other kids

Loss of desire to use the internet (or other technological devices like a cell phone)?

Acting out toward a sibling or being overly disrespectful

Find ways to communicate with your child if you suspect they are the target of another’s cruelty and report it. There are many company’s who specialize in monitoring these types of things and by reporting suspicious behavior, they can work on putting a stop to it before it spirals out of control.

Cyberbully’s have changed the way our young people have to manage the stresses of growing up. The responsibility lies with parents being aware of what’s going on with their child- be it the one doing the bullying or the one who is the recipient of it. The more in tune you are to your child, the better equipped you will be to handle a situation before it gets out of hand and permanently damages a child.

For more information about the Anti-Cyberbullying Awareness Campaign visit- On Teens Today.com.

©2009 by Tara Paterson, Certified Coach for Parents, co-author Raising Intuitive Children (spring ’09) www.RaisingIntuitiveChildren.com, All Rights Reserved