Internet is here to stay, and it should be positively embraced. However, if you are not cautious, one’s life can be ruined through the internet. Unlike years back, children around the world use the internet for both social and educational reasons. As parents, you need to take caution that your child does not get bullied via the internet especially on social media platforms. Children and teenagers are very vulnerable and can easily be intimidated by strangers. You therefore need to take the first broad step to make sure that your child stays secure and any private information is not leaked. Here are a few more tips how.
- Be Computer and internet literate
If you are not computer literate, your children are at a high risk of being cyber bullied. Go for computer lessons and cyber security awareness training and make sure you do in depth research on how to enhance internet security. Make sure any downloads that is applications and programs are safe because some are used by hackers to gather personal information from your internet devices.
- Create and teach your children on internet safety
Make sure that you teach your children about cyber bullying and ways they can improve internet security. Tell them not to download any suspicious programs or applications and above all, they should never share any passwords with anybody even their friends. In case they notice something suspicious, encourage them to report back to you. Create passwords that are not obvious like year or date of birth. A strong password should have at least 12 characters. Do not save the password in any of your device.
- Have ground rules regarding internet use in your house
As apparent, you need to take charge of internet use in your house. Discourage or forbid use of the internet for long hours. Make sure you keep monitoring your child whenever they are using an internet device. You can alternatively use software that can monitor sites that the children are visiting, and any downloads made.
What to do if your child reports cyber bullying
Do not overreact
Parents are protective of their children and it crushes them to know that their child is going through any sort of bullying. However, if your child reports to you, count your lucky stars because a very few percentages get know what their children are going through. Try to work things out with your child and seeing things from your child’s perspective. Reporting to the school administration or approaching the bully might actually make things worse. When you work together and have your child’s back, you will most likely come up with a solution that will cool things down.
Encourage your child to be resilient
From a tender age, teach your child how to be resilient over cruelty and challenges that may face them. The bully will probably give up if he sees that his cruel advances are not in any way affecting your child. This may be hard because it is something that should come from within your child. Encouraging them and showing them that you are behind them really boosts their resilience.
