However, examining the intent of harm, intentional repetition and power has been a challenge in the digital space. The challenge springs from general online interactions that lack ordinary nuances in communication, hence are hard to judge. The Communications Authority of Kenya CA hosted several executives in the ICT space to explore the menace that is cyber-bullying and general cybersecurity cases. From the forum, it was reported that more than 50 per cent of children experience various forms of cyber malpractice, yet they are the fastest growing online demography.
It's also not uncommon for cyberbullying victims to feel alone and isolated. Many kids who are targeted report being ostracized at school. This experience, in turn, impacts their self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. Ultimately, cyberbullying can lead to self-harm and even suicidal thoughts.
When kids are regularly harassed by others through social media posts, text messages, instant messaging, and blog posts, they can start to feel hopeless. They may start to think that the only way to escape the torment is through suicide. Because the risks associated with cyberbullying are so significant, it's important that parents take steps to prevent cyberbullying in their kids' lives.
If your tween or teen is having suicidal thoughts, they can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If they are in immediate danger, call While there is no foolproof way to prevent your child from ever being cyberbullied, there are things you can do together to reduce the likelihood they will be targeted.
This includes implementing safety measures as well as having ongoing conversations about cyberbullying. You need to discuss what cyberbullying is, the risks associated with experiencing it, and how it can escalate. It's also important to talk to your tweens and teens about how to use social media safely and responsibly and what they should do if they are bullied online.
When it comes to preventing cyberbullying, and similar behaviors like catfishing , it's important that your child use passwords on everything. Passwords are one of the most effective ways to protect accounts and devices. Emphasize that your child should never share their passwords with anyone, including their best friend. Even though they may trust that friend implicitly, the reality is that friends come and go and there is no guarantee they are going to be friends forever.
No matter what your teen does online, make sure they are aware of the privacy settings and tools offered by the organization. Go through each account with your child and help them set their privacy settings to the most secure settings. This means making accounts private, preventing people from tagging them, requiring other people to get permission before sharing one of their photos, and so on. Kids should never share their address, cell phone number, or email address online.
They should be careful about sharing too much information about where they go to school, especially if they have friends or followers online that they don't know really well. Remind them that people are not always who they claim to be online. Even though the profile photo is of a teenage girl, that doesn't mean the person behind the account is actually a teenage girl.
It could be someone pretending to be a young girl in order to gather information on other teens. Some smartphones allow users to share their location with friends. This means that if they share their location with people, these people will always know where they are. Have a discussion with your child about who they can share their location with or if they can share it at all.
Likewise, some photos taken with smartphones already contain geotags that indicate where the photo was taken. People can use these photos to determine your child's location, even if they never mention where the photo was taken. Your child needs to be mindful about which photos they are sharing and when. For instance, you may want them to refrain from posting vacation pictures until you have returned from vacation.
This way, you are not letting the entire online world know that no one is at your home for the next two weeks. Others have developed model policies schools and local educational agencies districts can use as they develop their own local laws, policies and regulations. Most state laws, policies, and regulations require districts and schools to implement a bullying policy and procedures to investigate and respond to bullying when it occurs. These state laws generally do not prescribe specific consequences for kids who engage in bullying behavior, and very few classify bullying as a criminal offense.
Further, states may address bullying, cyberbullying, and related behaviors in a single law or across multiple laws.
In some cases, bullying appears in the criminal code of a state that may apply to juveniles. In December , the U. In criminal law, there are two approaches to cyberbullying:.
Harassment is when something a person says or does makes someone fear for his or her safety, or for the safety of others.
Even if the perpetrator did not intend to frighten someone, she or he can be charged with harassment if the target feels threatened. Criminal harassment is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It is most often treated as a crime if the libelous statement is directed against a person in authority and could seriously harm his or her reputation.
Defamatory libel is punishable by up to five years in prison. Publishing intimate images without consent is a crime under the Criminal Code. Publishing intimate images without consent was added as an offence in Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of expression. Several provinces and territories have laws specifically dealing with online and offline bullying:.
This was the result of a case where a woman who sued a former romantic partner for sharing without her permission a sexually explicit video she had sent him. School boards are required to create anti-bullying plans and all school staff must take part in the plan. At the time of writing December no law has been drafted to replace it. Each school also must have a Parent School Support Committee that advises the principal on how to promote respectful behavior and prevent misconduct, helps to develop policies on how to prevent disrespectful behaviour or misconduct and how to support both those students who have participated in disrespectful behaviour and those who have been affected by it.
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