What is Cyberbullying? | How to avoid Cyberbullying?

Cyber Bullying is one of the common cyber threats being faced by children and young people. Cyberbullying can impact anyone yet due to limited understanding about cyber threats, children become easy victims of cyberbullying.

Image Credit: Freepik

Cyberbullying means using the internet or mobile technology to intentionally harass or bully someone by sending rude, mean, or hurtful messages, comments, and images/ videos. A cyber Bully can use text messages, emails, social media platforms, web pages, chat rooms, etc. to Bully others.

Do you know that initially, we don't even realize that someone is bullying us online? A cyberbullying can be a known person, friend, relative, or even an unknown person whom we met online on a social media platform or chat room, gaming portal, etc. The magnitude of cyberbullying can range from sending rude and hurtful messages, spreading embarrassing rumors to direct threats, stalking, etc.

The consequences of cyberbullying on children are manifold. There can be physical, emotional, and psychological consequences that can not only impact the academic performance of students but affected their daily life to a great extent.

Image Credit: Freepik

Let's discuss how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of cyberbullying

 

1. Don't accept friend requests from unknown people on social media platforms. A cyberbully can even create a fake account to befriend victims. As a rule of the thumb, only add people online whom you know offline.

2. Don't share your personal information like date of birth, address, and phone number on social media or other online platforms. You can go to the privacy setting on the social media platforms to select who can access your post online. Try to restrict access to your profile to your friends only. Picture stories for example on a particular platform are public by default.

3. Remember what you post online remains there forever so it is important to be careful and not to share your phone number and other personal details in comments or posts on social media platforms.

4. Never install unwanted software and Apps like dating app, online games, etc. from unknown sources. You should be very careful while chatting in the chat rooms. Never share personal details in the chat rooms and limit your identity.

5. If you feel hurt after reading a post from a friend or a stranger, don't react with an aggressive reply. It may encourage the bully to keep posting such messages. If a hurtful post/ message is from your friend, you can request him not to do it again. If you are repeatedly getting such messages/posts please inform your parents or elders immediately so that they can support you.

6. Please remember that as a good netizen you should never share mean comments or hurtful messages or embarrassing pictures/ videos online. Please be careful and check if your post or comments or videos can be embarrassing for your friend or anyone else. If so, please don't post. You should not become a cyberbully yourself as it is a punishable offense. It adversely impacts the victim.

What can you do if you are a victim of cyberbullying?

If you feel that you are a victim of cyberbullying, please inform your elders so that they can intervene and support you.

Following suggestions can be helpful in managing the situation:

1. Inform your parents and elders immediately:

If someone is bullying you, you must inform your parents or elders immediately. Don't feel that your parents will restrict your online activities or ask you not to use your computer and smartphone. It is important to inform them so that they can support and guide you. Narrate the entire issue clearly to your parents or elder.

2. Identify the bully:

Try to identify if the bully is a known person or a stranger. You should try to find out the reason why the bully is bothering you. A bully can be your friend or a known person. You may seek to help of your parent/teachers to reach out to the bully and ask him/her to stop bullying you.

3. Block the bully: 

If the bully is using social media platforms to bully you, you can block him/her. All the social media apps or services have the option to block a user.

4. Collect and save your post/ messages:

Save posts/messages that were used against you, such messages/posts can be used as evidence, if in case legal action has to been taken.

5. Never respond to a bully aggressively:

Bully wants you to get aggressive and get into a heated argument. This adds mileage to the information unwantedly. So the best way is to ask the person politely to stop it and if he/she becomes annoying, stop the chat or block him/her.

If your parents or elders feel the need, they can contact the local police station to lodge a complaint against the bully.

Or you can also use the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal Launched by the Indian Government (Ministry of Home Affairs). If you are a victim of cyberbullying then visit this website and register your complaint online with all evidence.

Do you know that it is both illegal and unethical to threaten someone online? Even if you send them offensive messages, call them vulgar names, make comments on how they look, etc... you may be calling for trouble.

Also Read | Why is Cyber Security a concern?