Today’s kids were born into a world surrounded by technology. Forget silver spoons in their mouths, most children were born with a smartphone in their hands. Technology has greatly advanced over the last few years. The goal behind using technology was to make our lives easier and more efficient. While social media and online games serve as excellent tools for networking and broadening social circles, they have certain risks you should be aware of. Bullies have now evolved to using technology to harass kids. Gone are the days when pushing and shoving kids in school was enough. Things have evolved from harassing kids in school hallways to bullying them on the internet. As a parent, you must be aware of how toxic cyber-bullying is and the emotional consequences it can have on your children.
What is cyber-bullying?
Cyber-bullying can be described as bullying or harassment that is aided by technology. It can happen over text messages, social media websites, emails, or gaming platforms and are harmful and malicious in intent. Any area of the internet where people can participate and share content is a possible zone for cyber-bullying. The idea behind cyber-bullying is to cause harm. It involves sending pictures, uploading posts, or sharing false or harmful content regarding someone else. This can include private or personal information about a person that can cause humiliation or embarrassment. Every day, a child becomes victim to cyber-bullying. Since it involves technology like the internet or cellphones, almost any child who uses a smartphone is a target. Any person regardless of gender or age can fall victim to cyber-bullying, but teenagers are the most commonly affected age group. It can involve various forms, such as:
Sending threats or hurtful messages to someone’s phone number, email, or social media profiles
Stealing another person’s online identity and sending harmful messages to other people
Stealing someone else’s personal information to log into their online accounts and sending harmful messages via these accounts
Sharing unflattering or humiliating pictures of someone else
Sending sexually suggestive messages or pictures about another person
Cyber-bullying can have a lasting damaging effect, especially on teenagers and adolescents. It can cause children to develop psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety.Being a parent, your child’s well-being and safety is always your number-one concern. But children are not always forthcoming about problems in their lives, especially if it is humiliating. This is why it is very important for parents to be aware and protect their little ones fromcyber-bullying and its dangers.
How to protect your child from cyber-bullying
The best way to protect your kids from becoming a target of cyber-bullying is to be informed of what is happening in their lives. Since teenagers are not necessarily very communicative, you must take it upon yourself to learn about their online activities. Arm yourself with a parental control software like TiSPY so you can monitor your child’s activities and protect them from cyber-bullying. To track your child’s phone use, install TiSPY on their smartphones. This app will allow you to keep an eye on their social media activities and text messages. It informs you if someone is repeatedly trying to contact your child on the same app or across multiple platforms.TiSPY has a powerful search tool that allows you to look through your child’s social media platforms for suspicious activities using specific keywords. Another way to identify cyber-bullying is by trying to understand what the unknown person is saying in their messages. Are they directly or indirectly hinting at something malicious? Are these messages completely safe? Monitoring your child’s incoming and outgoing messages on their SMS and social media apps will enable you to keep them safe from any cyber-bullying. If you do notice someone trying to contact them multiple times and your child is ignoring them, it should give you a sign that they are possibly being bullied and do not want to interact with that person. TiSPY is a quick-install parental control application that has various top-notch features, such as:
The call log tracker creates a log of all incoming and outgoing calls including information such as call type, duration, and number
Allows you to monitor incoming and outgoing SMS messages with details with the SMS tracker feature.
Tracks activities on various messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, etc.
Tracks online presence on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Allows you to monitor the use of any website and overall internet use
With this information, you can determine if your child has fallen victim to cyber-bullying. If they are fortunate enough to not have been a target, you can use TiSPY’s features to protect your kids from the dangers of using the internet. Besides relying on apps like TiSPY, there are a few other steps you can take to ensure your little ones are safe.
Keep the family computer in a common area like the living room. This allows you to keep an eye on their online activities and look for signs of cyber-bullying.
Before your child starts using the computer, teach them the STOP procedure. If they face an incident of cyber-bullying, they should Stop using the computer and Tell an adult. They can go back to using the computer only after getting an Ok from an adult.They should Play with other children instead of going online.
Add your child or follow them on social media so you can monitor their online activities without logging into their accounts. This allows you to see how your kids interact with their peers and identify if something is not right.
If your kid does become a victim of cyber-bullying, take screenshots or print outs of their online interactions. Next, block the person bullying your little one and set up a meeting with their parents so you can inform them of their child’s behavior. If informing the parents does not work, you should contact the bully’s school and, if necessary, law enforcement as well.
It is not a bad thing to want to monitor your child’s online activities. With new websites and social media apps being created every day, it is important that you stay abreast of their internet use and what information they share online. Be involved in their online activities so you can prevent them from becoming a target of cyber-bullying.
Smart measures to ensure safe device usage by your children.