Ten Ways to Protect Your Child from Cyberbullies #backtoschool

WebWatcher Parental Advisory:

Ten Ways to Protect Your Child from Cyberbullies

by:  Brad Miller, CEO of Awareness Technologies – Makers of WebWatcher

---

Cyberbullying has quickly turned into a pandemic on the web, causing severe emotional and psychological pain to children.  According to the National Crime Prevention Council, over 40% of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online.  Cyberbullies seek to terrorize or humiliate perceived enemies and rivals under the cloak of anonymity, and with the proliferation of social media tools and multiple points of connection to the Web, they have an ever-expanding array of opportunities to achieve their goals.  This activity presents a daunting challenge to parents who want to ensure their children’s safety in today’s technology-driven communications environment.  Simple tips that worked in the past are fast-becoming ineffective:  it’s no longer sufficient to block access to specific websites, messaging programs, social networks, or computer use altogether.  Parents can gain important insights into their children’s digital lives by communicating with them about this important topic, and better monitoring their web, email and mobile phone activity.  Here are 10 tips for parents to help protect their children from cyberbullies and other online dangers:

1. Start by talking with your children about their online activities and the dangers of cyberbullying – set their expectations by discussing your views on monitoring their Internet and smartphone use 
2. Set up Google Alerts to monitor mentions of your children’s names on the web 
3. Friend your children on Facebook and monitor their privacy settings so you are able to view their profile and activity 
4. In addition to Facebook, cyberbullies use other social networking sites like Twitter to post hateful messages.  Familiarize yourself with these sites and set up an account to enable you to routinely search what others are saying about your kids 
5. Inform teachers if you suspect your child is being cyberbullied.  Teachers are among the first to notice important changes in children’s behavior, and it’s possible the bully may be a classmate 
6. Consider implementing parental monitoring software on your home computers and children’s smartphones 
7. Many school districts also now use computer monitoring software on all classroom computers.  Check with your school principal, PTA or school board to ensure these tools are in use at your child’s school 
8. Prohibit your children from having multiple e-mail addresses, screennames and social networking accounts 
9. Prohibit your children from using geolocation tools and apps on Facebook and smartphones 
10. Always be observant as your children use electronic communications tools.  Changes in habits, such as frequency and timing of use, mood swings and other indicators, could be a sign that your child is being bullied or a target of other online mischief

While each of these tips can be very helpful in their own right, the most comprehensive, proven way to protect your children from online bullies and other dangers is the use of Internet monitoring tools for PCs and smartphones that can be monitored remotely.  For more information visit: www.webwatchernow.com.