Try to imagine a modern child without a mobile phone, computer, laptop or tablet. This is no longer possible. They are glad to have such gadgets, because it gives the opportunity to communicate with friends, relatives, classmates. However, along with this, problems arise. Today we will not talk about the fact that it impairs vision, reduces social activity, and so on. There is an equally important problem - cyberbullying. This is a relatively new concept that we borrowed from the West along with social networks and chat rooms. What is cyberbullying, how to prevent it, how to resist, we will consider in this article.
What kind of misfortune is this?
This is one of the forms of harassment, bullying, intimidation, violence of adolescents and young children with the help of information and communication technologies, namely the Internet and mobile phones.
To better understand what cyber-bullying is, let's look at the origin of the term. If its first part is understandable without explanation, the second part of the name of this virtual terror comes from the English word bull ("bull"). All related meanings come from here - to find fault, aggressively attack, provoke, terrorize, pester, insult, poison and so on.
the main problem
The biggest disadvantage of virtual space is that we communicate in the absence of interpersonal contact as such. That is, we don’t see a person, respectively, we can’t say with 100% certainty who he really is.
It turns out that each person can come up with a new life, a new "role", a new behavior. After all, it is extremely unlikely that the truth will be revealed sooner or later. Thus, a person is not afraid that someday he will have to be responsible for actions, statements, actions, so he behaves as he pleases, as a rule, very badly, incorrectly.
This is a detailed answer to the question of what is cyberbullying. Teenagers often take this opportunity, “try on” other roles, and do it with pleasure. There are adults who are aware of what cyberbullying is, they use it for fun or because of psychological illnesses.
What could be the consequences?
Unfortunately, the saddest. Although this word is relatively new, cases of suicide attempts, injuries, and tragic deaths are already known, and all this is due to an attack on a teenager through chat rooms, social networks, and email.
The purpose of virtual terror is to cause psychological harm. Invisible, but very scary is cyberbullying. Unfortunately, many parents and teenagers already know what it is dangerous for, what threatens with consequences. Learn all the information to protect your child from lovers of evil jokes and provocations. Internet trolling and cyberbullying are somewhat similar, but the latter view has more serious consequences.
Bullying Types
Terror in virtual space has many forms of manifestation. The most harmless - jokes, jokes. On the opposite side is a powerful psychological impact leading to suicide and death. Cyberbullying is an innovative way of violence against a child, which not every parent can notice in time and react in any way correctly. Learn the types of terror and be fully equipped.
Type 1: skirmishes (flaming)
This refers to the exchange of small, but very emotional remarks. As a rule, two people participate in this, although the presence of several people is not excluded. This skirmish is unfolding in the “public” places of the Internet. It can end quickly and without consequences, and can develop into a long conflict. On the one hand, this is a confrontation between equal participants, and on the other, under certain conditions it can turn into far from equal psychological pressure, entailing strong emotional experiences of the victim.
Type 2: attacks (constant attacks)
These are regular offensive statements about the victim (many SMS messages, constant calls) up to overloading private channels. There are such attacks in forums and chat rooms, online games.
Type 3: libel
As the name implies, this is the dissemination of untruthful, offensive information. It can be songs, text messages, photos, which are often of a sexual nature.
Type 4: imposture
Cyberbullying is a dangerous virtual “bulling,” which also implies transformation into a certain personality. The pursuer uses the victim’s data (logins, passwords for accounts on networks, blogs) in order to carry out negative communication on her behalf. That is, the person (the victim) does not even suspect that he is sending offensive messages or conducting correspondence.
Type 5: sell
This is the persecution of the victim with any confidential information of the victim and its use for his own purposes (publication on the Internet, transfer to third parties).
Type 6: Alienation
Any person sooner or later wants to be included in any group. An exception to it is perceived very sharply, painfully. The child's self-esteem falls, his normal emotional background is destroyed.
Type 7: Cyberbullying
This is one of the worst forms. The victim is hiddenly hidden for attack, beating, rape.
Type 8: Hepispleping (translated as "happy clapping")
The name appeared after a series of cases in the subway of England, when teenagers beat random passers-by, and other people recorded video on mobile phones. Such cruel behavior is used to make a video, post it on the Internet and gain a large number of views. Here is such a terrible reality.
Cyberbullying Prevention and Prevention
What can adults do, how to protect their child from evil reality, because the phone or computer is becoming more and more solid in life?
First of all, you need to be very attentive to your child, his hobbies, especially virtual. Adults and children have different preferences in films, music, the Internet. In the latter, as in the case of the rules of the road, one cannot let things go by their own accord; it is necessary to explain to the younger generation the “rules of the game" what can be done and what is strictly forbidden in the virtual world.
Internet access must be regulated, clearly explained what behavior can be bad and dangerous. Where is your computer located in your home? If in the farthest corner of the apartment where no one sees what the son (daughter) is specifically doing, it is recommended to transfer him to the place where there are almost always people (living room, kitchen). When you go about your business, you can not only “accidentally” follow the pages you visit, but also see the mood of your child.
Keep track of his interests not only in virtual space, but also in real life, this will help to find out how he lives, what interests him, what emotions this or that fact causes. Start to sound the alarm and “break” all gadgets at home if the child does not feel well after working at the computer, does not make contact, avoids communication with peers, categorically refuses to go to school, and so on. There are a lot of problems and consequences of cyberbullying. How to resist him? How to avoid this? The basic rules on how to prevent terror on the Web, we set out. The main thing is to be very attentive to children.
How to overcome the problem if this happens?
If suddenly your child nevertheless fell victim to the persecutors, try to keep all the available evidence, evidence of terror. Messages were received - make copies, this applies to video, SMS, and everything else.
Do not panic, be calm, especially if the child himself told you about the problem, otherwise the next time he will not come for help. Support the teenager emotionally, explain that nothing bad happened, in your face he should see and feel only a friend who sincerely wishes good. Talk with the teenager the whole situation, let him tell you how it was, from the very beginning. Explain to him the rules of conduct - how to or should not respond to all kinds of persecution, what to do to avoid this if possible.
Among other things, tell the child that it is very important to have your own good reputation, and not “try on” roles. He should know that if he received an insulting or incomprehensible message, a picture, he should immediately contact his parents for help so as not to start the situation. In an extreme case (if all else fails) you should go to law enforcement.
Be attentive to your children, then nothing bad will happen!