CYBER-BULLYING TIPS TO HELP YOUR CHILD BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

Blog by +Wanda Dorn        #DiversityEtiquette

How You Can Help Your Child When They Are Being Cyberbullied Before It’s Too Late

This is an important topic for youth in today's cyber society

I saw this article posted on "The Black Home School"  Page.  It was so on point, I had to share the article,  along with tips and remarks of my own:

adornstudios.org 

Wanda Dorn
Chief Facilitator
A'Dorn Studios

The advice in this article is right on point.  I will add:

1.  Parents should often check in with their children frequently about how things are going in their lives, and really really listen to them.  Listen to the exact words they say and watch their body language for what they are holding back. 

2.  From birth, parents must instill in their children confidence.  In today's cyber society,  it is especially mandatory that our children feel confidence in both their parental support, and in themselves, so when they encounter bullying, threats, disparaging remarks or anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, they can come directly and immediately to the parents - or guardian.  

3.  Parents must convey this most important point to a child who is being bullied whether cyber, on school campus or among play friends:  "It's not your fault". 

4.  Parents and those who work with youth, I hope you elect to convey to your youngster my saying that I repeat often to my clients and students:  "What you think of me is none of my business - it's your problem".  In other words, in life there will always be someone who wants to bring you down to their level of being a nobody.  Make sure your youth knows they should not accept anyone else's opinion of who they are, and keep the confidence of knowing for themselves who they are.  Teach them when uncomfortable situations come up, they should "act" instead of "re-act" to what is happening.  Taking action means do something immediately to take back control like talking to the parents or someone in authority, because if they wait, they may re-act in a manner that gets them into trouble.

5.  Then the parent must step in and take action and not re-act as well by reporting the perpetrator and/or get the necessary technical and legal help.  Parents, if you wait to act, you too may re-act in a manner that you may regret latter on.

6.  A part of that action most parents overlook in considering the necessary help is counseling.  I quote to "Business Management" clients and young students "It takes sixteen positives to erase one negative", and sometimes it takes a professional to erase traumatized negatives - it's no shame in getting professional help for your traumatized youth!

Paraphrasing Black Home School article

Remember these cyber-bully terms

adornstudioss.org 

Cyberbullying is a growing trend and it is harming children all over the country.  Kids as young as elementary school have to suffer through bullying and some take extreme measures to escape it.  They feel that there is no other way to get away from those who are bullying them and end up taking their own life when it becomes too much.  How do you as a parent help your child if you see that they are being bullied online? Is there something that you can do before it’s too late? Absolutely.  Here are three ways that you can help your child if they are a victim of cyberbullying.

1.  Make sure that you let your child know that it’s not tattling if they tell someone in a position of authority that someone is bullying them.  Many kids are afraid to say anything because they fear retaliation from the party they are being bullied by.  Let them know that telling an adult that this is going on is not ratting someone out, it is helping themselves and other students from the torment that the bullies are inflicting.

2.  Unplug the electronics.  If they are being harassed on a social media site such as Facebook have them deactivate their account.  It is a hard thing to do for many teens to shut down their social media sites but if that is where they are seeing negative things posted about them that are making them feel worthless it is something that has to be done.  Logging on to a site and seeing your name smeared all over the place will only do more harm than good.  Help them to understand that while they are able to connect with friends and families through these sites it is probably best that they shut it down until the situation has resolved itself.

3.  As a parent you need to make sure that you are taking the situation seriously.  If you see that your child is struggling with bullying, especially cyberbullying, lend them as much support as you possibly can.  Take the situation very seriously and don’t just brush it off as kids picking on another because they are kids and don’t know any better.  The situation could become very serious in a short amount of time and you want to make sure that you have done everything possible for your child.