Is your child at risk of cyberbullying?

The cyberbullying statistics in Australia are frankly, quite frightening. Defined as “the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.”, reported occurrences of Cyber-bullying are rising steeply each year. And with 1 in 4 children experiencing cyberbullying, it is clear that as a nation, we have an epidemic. Although cyber-bullying itself doesn’t involve any physical abuse as often occurs in the schoolyard, cyber-bullying is often worse. Whereas in the schoolyard, hurtful comments may be viewed by a few people, online, the hurtful comments can be seen by hundreds or even thousands of peers – making the humiliation far worse for the child being cyber-bullied. With the world becoming more and more technologically advanced, we need to know how to ensure that our kids are safe in this digital world. So we’ve compiled a list of our top tips for keeping your child safe online.

Tip #1: Don’t ban it

With the digital world being so open, it can be tempting to outright ban social media. But doing so only makes social media a forbidden fruit for children and teens – making them wanting to use it more – without telling you. If you’d like to monitor your child’s activity online, you can gain the login details for the service and keep an eye on it, but banning social media will result in children usually using it behind your back.

Tip #2: Talk about it

Discuss social media safety as a family. Talk about how to stay safe online and have an open conversation with your children. Make sure they feel comfortable coming to you with any issues or bullying they encounter on social media. You can even create a family “Social Media Plan” so your children know what is expected of them online.

Tip #3: Keep your kids vigilant

Large-scale cyber-bullying usually starts off as a small nasty comment online. Tell your child to come and report any inappropriate comments directed towards them or other peers online, so you can solve the issue before it becomes too large.   I hope these tips will help you in protecting your kids for an increasingly digital world, Joshua Brooks Founder & CEO CodeSpace

Give your kids the skills they need to be safe in the future.

CodeSpace Camps help to give children general computer skills, which will help them stay alert and safe online.