Bullying is an awful action with disastrous effects. More and more children are being driven to suicide by bullying, in schools and online. This is why Tracey is campaigning for better support for victims, schools, families and those offending to help them understand the consequences of bullying. Promoting early intervention and preventative measures.
Beatbullying charity’s research has found 1 in 3 young people has been a victim of cyber-bullying whilst 1 in 13 experience persistent and intentional cyber-bulling. 1 in 20 self-harm and 3% reported a suicide attempt as a direct result of cyber-bullying. You are not alone and you do not have to put up with it. If you are a victim of bullying report it, tell a member of your family of contact beatbullying. Help is available.
How to beat the cyber bullies.
Here are BeatBullying’s top tips for staying safe online;
1. If you’re being cyber-bullied, don’t ignore it or keep it a secret – tell someone. If the first person doesn’t help, don’t give up. Try talking to someone else.
2. Always report anything abusive you see online to the site concerned. Flag it, report it or talk to someone about it.
3. Save and print out any bullying messages, posts, pictures or videos you receive or see. Make a note of the dates and times of bullying messages, along with any details you have about the sender’s ID and the URL.
4. Never respond or retaliate – this can just make things worse. Block any users that send you nasty messages.
5. If you’re being bullied repeatedly, think about changing your user ID, nickname or profile to stop the bullies finding you.
6. Don’t post personal information – such as your address, email address or mobile number – online.
7. Never let anyone have access to your passwords. Check the privacy settings on accounts such as Facebook and make sure you know how to keep your personal info private.
8. Think very carefully before posting photos of yourself online. Once your picture is online, anyone can download it and share it or even change it.
9. You may want to consider marking your photos as private, so that only your friends can view the pictures.
If you have been or are being a victim of bulling please report it, tell a family member or contact beatbullying at http://www.beatbullying.org/ – there are people who can help!