Seeing that the law does not have much to say about cyberbullying, it remains the sole responsibility of the teens and pre-teens to do all they can to keep safe always when they are online. Discussed below are some very important Cyber Safety Tips that can be used by young internet users to keep cyber bullies at bay:
- All rude and harassing emails should go unanswered. Nonetheless, they should remain un-deleted as future evidence should the matter get serious enough to involve the authorities.
- Any site that makes you feel uneasy and uncomfortable should be exited with immediate effect and never visited again.
- In case of a recurrent case of abuse in form of abusive, insulting, harassing, and intimidating emails, it is time to get rid of that particular email address. A new email address is not difficult to acquire and should only be given out to a few trusted friends and relatives.
- If the harassment happens to come through MSN, block the sender with immediate effect.
- Personal computers should never be allowed in bedrooms, they should be left in the living room and where possible, the screen should be large enough to allow a comfortable view from all parts of the room.
- Parents should always cast regular glances to check out what their teens and pre-teens are up to.
- One common mistake that teens tend to make especially the girls is to come up with a flirty or sexy log-on name which only encourages sex bullies.
- All teens and pre-teens should be educated on the dangers of having any explicit photos of themselves being taken by anyone and that includes themselves.
- In case someone has managed to get inappropriate content about you and posts it online, keeping silent will only make the situation worse, inform your parents as soon as this happens and contact the police together immediately.
- Children should trust their parents enough to realize that they can protect them in case of cyberbullying or any other form of bullying. Young people can do this by teaching their parents everything they need to know about the internet, this will generate trust between them and the parent will be able to identify even the slightest sign of bullying that may evade the child.
- As a teen or pre-teen, inform your parents of all your favorite sites.
- Spend time together with your parents online, this will draw you closer and improve communication and trust.
- Ask your parents to install filter programs and other safety devices to keep your computer safe.
- Filters and other safety devices are a good way to protect your computer but they are not always 100% effective, it is, therefore, your own personal responsibility to make sure that all sites you visit are safe and suitable.
- Accept and obey all rules that your parents should set regarding the information you can put on websites or share with others.
- The internet is permanent and anything you post including photos will remain on the internet forever whether you delete it from your personal accounts or not.
- Sometimes parents and guardians will not understand cyberspace language and it is the responsibility of their teens and re-teens to teach them this language.
- Personal information should not be exchanged online regardless of how harmless and convincing anyone might seem.
- All social networking profiles should be set to private mode e.g Facebook.
- Friends from MSN, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks should only consist of people you know from real life as it will reduce the possibility of cyberbullying.
- Remember that no matter how close you may get to an online friend, he or she remains a stranger when it comes to reality.
- Never under any circumstances share your passwords with anyone online. Passwords should be very strong and a mixture of numbers, letters, and symbols.
- Passwords should be changed at least four times a year.
- Every cyber user be it a teen or an adult should learn that not every piece of information on the internet is true and reliable.
- Smaller children should always be supervised as they use the internet. Email communication and MSN should be minimized and contacts of family and friends approved by the parents or guardians.
- If playing computer games is allowed in your house, teach your parents to play as well.
- Remember that bullying is a crime and more so is cyberbullying. Avoid bullying or harassing anyone and strongly reject any requests from a friend to bully anyone with cyber safety tips.