Cyberbullying: What It Is and How to Stop It?

We live in a hyper-connected world, and risks like cyberbullying are gaining more prominence. Nowadays, bullying has evolved from after-school fist fights or shakedowns for lunch money to bullying on social media, email, and text. In fact, the extent of bullying has advanced far beyond just a school issue. Cyberbullying in today’s world has taken on a whole new meaning, with perpetrators being able to hide behind the screen. Furthermore, the internet has amplified the impact of bullying as mediums offer rapid distribution and no erase buttons.

Actor Idris Elba temporarily quit social media in 2019 as he found it to be a breeding ground for negativity and online bullying, which led to depression. In fact, cyberbullying can have tragic consequences such as singer Goo Hara’s death by apparent suicide at the young age of 28, which upon investigation was found linked to horrific cyberbullying attacks.

Read on as we discuss what cyberbullying is, it’s lasting effects, how you can stop it, and what you can do to ensure cyber hygiene.

What Is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is the process of bullying using digital technologies. This can take place on messaging platforms, social media, mobile phones, and gaming platforms. Furthermore, it is a repeated behavior, and is aimed at angering, shaming, or scaring those targeted. Cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying can happen alongside each other.

However, cyberbullying leaves a digital footprint that can prove useful and provide evidence to stop the abuse.

The Effects of Cyberbullying

The effects of cyberbullying are based on the nature of bullying, with some common ones being depression, insomnia, unwillingness to go out, and suicidal tendencies in extreme cases.

How to Stop Cyberbullying?

It is essential you help stop cyberbullying. If you have updated information about cyberbullying, the experiences that people have, and how and where it occurs, you can help prevent such an attack from occurring ever again.

Best Practices on Social Media to Prevent Cyberbullying

◉ Report and flag the abuser.

◉ Do not engage in any malicious acts.

◉ Limit what you share online.

◉ Do not add unknown people to your network.

◉ Take a digital break if necessary.

Furthermore, staying educated and educating children regarding cyberbullying and its effects can help. Some of the steps to stop bullying are:

◉ It’s important to report bullying rather than hiding out of fear and embarrassment. Whenever such an incident occurs, immediately inform a trusted source.

◉ Ensure internet safety by never leaving your email and social media accounts open while browsing on public computers as it can be misused by others operating the systems.

◉ Always maintain good cyber safety by not sharing personal information on the internet as cyberbullies can misuse it. Furthermore, always search yourself on Google every few weeks to check what is associated with your name. Take anything you don’t like down from your accounts or set them private.

◉ Parents and teachers should immediately contact legal authorities whenever cyberbullying in school occurs.

◉ Avoid clicking on links or open files sent by unknown users as it might steal your personal information and track your activities.

◉ Parents can install parental control software that allows them to monitor the online activities of their kids.

Source: eccouncil.org