Cyberbullying is a timely dinner conversation idea for families of all ages. Did you know that according to Statistics Canada, one in five young Canadians is cyberbullied or cyberstalked? As a Mom to teenage girls, this is a conversation I re-introduce and re-visit often.
About Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is defined as an aggressive act – such as embarrassment, humiliation, threats, stalking, or harassment – targeted at an individual or group of individuals through digital means. It comes in many forms, can happen on any device or through any online platform (e.g. social media sites, video games, private messaging, etc.), and can be committed by someone known or unknown.
Bookmark this site as your go-to cyberbullying resource: www.primus.ca/cyberbullying.
When I was a teen, my Mom overheard my phone calls (remember landlines and the central phone in the kitchen attached to a wall?). She didn’t overhear on purpose. It was just…the phone was in the kitchen. But with mobile phones and laptops, parents don’t overhear conversations or social shares. It’s silent.
Which is why I’m so glad cyberbullying is an open topic in our house. Yes, I’ve heard directly from my daughter about nasty group chats that quickly become ALL vs. ONE. I’ve also heard about friends sending bra pics. And once about an adult male sending a “hey baby” DM to her.
When cyberbullying happens…
…embarrassment, humiliation, threats, stalking, or harassment…
As a parent, you never want it to impact your child, or for them to be a silent witness – or heaven forbid – the bully.
To help recognize and repel online attacks, national communications provider, Primus, and Canada’s authority on bullying, PREVNet, have launched a new website that serves as an essential resource for parents, children and schools seeking information and guidance.
PREVNet notes that, in some cases, cyberbullying is more emotionally damaging than traditional schoolyard bullying. This is due, in part, to the permanency of digital information: comments posted online live forever, so victims of cyberbullying may be exposed to and can relive their trauma again and again. Also, 24-hour access to technology means that harassment can be impossible to escape, even when seemingly safe at home.
Accessible anti-cyberbullying tools
That’s why it is invaluable for parents to have easy-to-navigate resources to help combat cyberbullying. For me, awareness (for both my kids and myself) is most important.
We would all like to think our kids use their phones, tablets, and laptops for homework, music and games. But technology is so much more. It’s a window that can allow cyberbullies into the lives of our kids (even when they are safe at home).
I know it’s hard to get kids to talk. I try to read my kids’ body language, recognize if they are sleeping too much or too little, check their overall mood (OK, my teenagers are generally moody…aren’t they all?! Just remember there is “average” moodiness and “extreme”), and always check in with a light “how was your day?” every day.
Disclosure: This post is in partnership with Primus.
Cyberbullying is so, so bad. I used to think physical bullying was terrible when I was a kid, but cyberbullying is so much worse. It can reach our kids anywhere at any time.
I really worry about cyberbullying. My kids don’t really use the internet that much yet, but they will be before I know it.
What you said is so true about a group chat just getting out of control really fast. One minute my son will be texting about some neutral subject and the next minute someone said something mean and everyone is commenting on it. We really do have to talk about this often to our kids and protect them any way we can.
Cyberbullying is such an important topic to talk to your kids about often. It is so easy for kids to be a bully behind a keyboard.
It is so important to teach our kids the skills they need to deal with cyberbullying. I would not want to be in high school again when I see what my kids go through.
It’s so sad that we need to have such resources to deal with cyberbullying. I am so glad they exist though and will be bookmarking this for when my child is a bit older.
I hate that bullying is even a thing these days. Cyber bullying just escalates things even more!
Cyberbullying is definitely awful. I am glad that there is something that can help deal with that.
I wish that kids realized how much damage they do to another human being when they bully. I also find it sad how many adults are actually cyber bullying these days. I am glad that you talk to your kids about this and that you bring up the conversation more than once. My kids are all adults now but now I have grandchildren and I worry about them as they get older. Thank you for a great post.
The worst part about cyberbullying is that kids can so easily hide it and conceal – especially from their parents. Glad to see companies and organizations are standing up and trying to do something about it.
I think it’s really sad that kids today have to deal with this. I don’t understand why human beings are so awful to one another.
This is definitely an important issue to address with all of the social media kids have access to. The Primus resource sounds helpful!
Great app. Awesome cause
It is a good app to prevent cyber bullying. It is a good aid to protect kids.
As a kid I was bullied a lot. I couldn’t imagine going home and it continuing there via cyberbullying. This is a great protection.
Glad, to see there is help when this rears its ugly head in our kid’s lives. Thanks for sharing!
Cyberbullying is something I hope my kids don’t have to deal with. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t but the world is far from perfect.
Prevention is important, this new type of bullying makes it harder but do your best
Cyber bullying is so bad, people need to stop bullying, but I’m afraid it’s a hard battle to fight. These are great tip. We all know someone that as been affected by bullying I’m sure.
It’s so important to try and keep the lines of communication open with your kids so cyberbullying can be dealt with.
“one in five young Canadians is cyberbullied or cyberstalked” what another horrifying statistic. Bullying in any shape or form is horrible, I can’t understand why anyone would want to bully someone else. What do they get out of it, is it a power trip? Whatever it is it has to be stopped
Thank you for the sources. When you are in the midst of it, it is good to have sources on hand.