Today (5th July 2016) is Stand Up to Bullying Day! Organised by The Diana Award, Stand Up to Bullying Day is an opportunity for everyone to play their part to tackle bullying.
At Childnet we believe young people can take an active role in tackling online bullying by thinking about how they behave online and knowing what to do if they experience or see bullying. To help we’ve put together some top tips:
- Always respect others: be careful what you say online and what images you send.
- Think before you send: whatever you send can be made public very quickly and could stay online forever.
- Keep it private! Only give your mobile number, personal email address and other contact details to trusted friends. If you are active on social networking services think about what you are sharing and who you are sharing it with. You can set your privacy settings to limit who can see your content.
- Block the bully: learn how to block or report someone who is behaving badly.
- Don’t retaliate or reply!
- Save the evidence: learn how to keep records of upsetting or mean messages, pictures or online conversations.
- Make sure you tell:
- Your parent/carer or an adult you trust.
- Your school: your teacher or the anti-bullying coordinator can help you
- Report it to the social network or app: you can check their help centre to see where to report concerns
- Remember you can visit ChildLine to chat to a counsellor online, or call 0800 1111.
Finally, don’t just stand there, if you see cyberbullying going on, support the victim and report the bullying!
Helping teachers tackle cyberbullying
The Stand Up to Bullying Day website also contains advice for young people, teachers, parents and organisations and includes an article by UK Safer Internet Centre partners, Childnet, for teachers about how to deal with cyberbullying.
We believe it is critical that teachers and professionals understand cyberbullying and know how to prevent and respond to cyberbullying incidents. In this article teachers will find tips and guidance to support them.
Later this year schools will be able to find more information about how to understand, prevent and respond to cyberbullying in Childnet’s Cyberbullying Guidance for schools. Produced with the Government Equalities Office the free guidance provides important information and advice which will support schools across the UK. More information can be found at www.childnet.com/cyberbullying-guidance.
Teachers and professionals seeking advice about bullying can contact the Professionals Online Safety Helpline on 0844 381 4772 or [email protected]
