What Parents Can Do
- Don’t put a computer in your young child’s bedroom. Keep your computer is a busy area of your home.
- Set up e-mail and chat accounts with your children. Make sure that you know their screen names and passwords and that they don't include any personal information in their online profiles.
- Regularly go over their instant messenger "buddy list" with them. Ask who each person is and how your children know him or her.
- Discuss cyberbullying with your children and ask if they have ever experienced it or seen it happen to someone.
- Tell your children that you won't blame them if they are cyberbullied. Emphasize that you won't take away their computer or cell phone privileges - this is the main reason kids don't tell adults when they are cyberbullied.
- Watch out for signs that your child is being bullied online - a reluctance to use the computer or go to school may be an indication.
- Contact your child's school, local police or your Internet Service Provider if the bullying is severe. It's a criminal offence to threaten another person.
Please let us know of any in-appropriate activities that your children talk to you about so we can help guard against it in our school!
Many of these points were adapted from National Crime Prevention Council 2003 and Media Awareness Network
