Cyberbullying Tips for Moms, Dads to Help Kids

Parenting

Kids Need, Want Involved Parents

Unfortunately, with back to school season, bullying increases among students. In fact, the school year before the worldwide pandemic closed schools across the country, a 2019 -2020 National Center for Educational Statistics study found that around 22% of students ages 12-18 reported being bullied at school. For younger children in elementary school, bullying manifests itself somewhat differently with teasing, name calling and exclusion from friend groups all being quite common.

5 Anti-Bullying Tips to Support Your Child 

Read on to learn what you can do as a Mom or Dad to protect kids and help them navigate a world that includes both IRL (in real life) physical bullying which is more likely to happen to boys and cyberbullying online which tends to have more female victims.

• Set a good example: Kids learn from everything you do and will mirror your every action.

• Talk about it before it happens: Make sure your child is prepared to identify cyberbullying and knows how to deal with an incident should it occur.

• When you see it, address it: Whether it is bullying in your house or on your computer, if you discover a situation where your child is being bullied or bullying another child, it is your responsibility to intervene and stop it.

• Talk about your House Rules: What happens if your child gets caught being a cyberbully? Would you consider an amnesty policy for encouraging your child to tell you when something is wrong? Think about your house rules and discuss them with your whole family so everyone plays by the same rules.

• Use a Parental Intelligence System: At the very least you should monitor your children‚ social media accounts. Some parents choose to allow their child access with their knowledge but be aware that if you are not in control of their privacy settings, your kids can easily block what mom and dad see.

Remember, no matter how old they are, your child needs a parent, or other responsible adult such as school staff and counselors, to be involved because bullying transcends all age groups. From the innocence of early school age children to the increasingly complicated interactions and behaviors of tweens and teenagers, bullying does leave emotional scars which can follow youth into adulthood. The troubling statistics reveal that there is an urgent need today for comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies which ideally should begin with and be reinforced by parents at home.