Six Tips for Students Who Are Being Cyber-Bullied

A bully must be dealt with immediatly before things get worse.

Being bullied is one of the most traumatic experiences that a person can endure. Past generations have had to deal with the face to face distress of a bully. Today these terrors have moved to online arenas, inflicting no less anxiety or anguish. A cyber-bully can be anyone and his methods for abuse can range from profanity to threats to the destruction of friendship networks. If you are the victim of a cyber-bully, you need to be proactive and refuse to be abused in this way. Get help and stop the bully in his tracks.

Tell Someone

An important step in dealing with a cyber-bully situation is to communicate the problem with someone who you trust. Talk to your parents, a school teacher or perhaps a church member. Explain what has happened and when it started. Make sure that someone knows about the situation.

Don't Reply

As tempting as it may be to engage the bully, do not respond. In some ways it may feel safer to speak your mind or defend yourself over the Internet than in a face to face situation. This can quickly escalate the situation. If you don't respond, the cyber-bully may move on and let you alone.

Block and Report

Every online social media source has an option for dealing with unwanted comments. You will need to document the actions of the bully. Create a written log and if possible print a screenprint of his comments. You can then mark the posts as offensive and block the bully so that you are no longer able to see the offensive comments.

Share Carefully

The fact that you are being bullied online is not your fault. However, you must pay attention to how your share your personal life online. Don't share information about your day to day activities. Generalize comments. If you say something specific, describe it in the past tense. For example, write "Had a great cup of coffee at John's," rather than saying you are currently at John's.

Get Involved

Cyberbullying is not an isolated experience although many students who suffer through this experience feel they are alone. Go to your school counselor or principal and work toward helping other students become more aware of the overall problem of cyberbullying. You can start a support group and a public awareness campaign at your school or in your community.

Close Accounts

Ultimately your best option to stop the cyberbullying may be to take the step of removing your social media identity. You will need to go to the account settings of the service where you are being bullied and permanently delete you account. Remember to make copies to document the bullying before you delete the account because you will not be able to retrieve them later.

References

• National Crime Prevention Council: Cyberbullying
• Education: "Dealing with Cyberbullies?"; Delaware Department of Education
• Psychology Today: "Cyberbully Protection for Teens"; Raychelle Cassada Lohmann ; July 30, 2011
• Time Magazine: "Dealing With Cyberbullying; Five Essential Parenting Tips"; Hans Villarica ; Friday, March 25, 2011

Resources

• StopBullying.gov: Cyberbullying