How to Protect Your Child From Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying has become a problem among today's youth. The terrifying part of this type of bullying is that it is not limited to the school yard. Children can be harassed 24/7 on their email and favorite social networking sites. There are a few things that you can do to help protect your child from cyber bullying and to help stop if if it starts.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. The first thing you need to do to protect your child from cyber bullying is to monitor their use of the internet and cell phone. Put the family computer in a central location in the home and limit the amount of time that your child can spend on it. Don't let them create an email account or set up a social networking profile until they are at least in middle school and the accounts are created with the knowledge that you, the parent, can check the content at any time. The same goes for cell phone use. You should only let a child have the cell phone with the knowledge that you can check the text messages on that phone at any time. It is important to respect their privacy and not check it constantly, but they need to know that you are the one paying for it, so you have the right to monitor it.

2. Watch for warning sings of depression. When children are being cyber bullied, they may start to withdraw or change their eating habits by either over eating or not eating enough. They may seem tired and not want to participate in activities that they use to love. They may start to avoid some of their friends. Keep an eye out for some of these warning signs and talk to your child and/or a pediatrician or counselor if you start to see some of them.

3. Warn your children about cyber bullying. It should be a frequent dinner time conversation. Let them know that this is something that does happen to a lot of children and they do not have to put up with it. They should tell you if it starts to happen to them so that something can be done immediately. Reassure them that people who bully usually do it to make them feel better about themselves and that bullies usually back down when stood up to. They can also just ignore any cyber bullying message. Tell them that if they do ever receive a hurtful message that they should save it and show it to you immediately, even if it might be embarrassing for them. If they know who sent it to them, then you can alert that person's parents or the proper authorities.

4. Listen to your children if they start to complain that they are victims of cyber bullying. Children will sometimes try to reach out to adults, and if they are ignored, it can hurt them worse than the messages being sent to them. Work with them to resolve the problem, and let them know how much they are loved.