Four Steps to Protecting Your Kids from Cyberbullying
1. Accept your Child's Online Life As Danah Boyd explains in his book It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens Young people are socializing more and more online because parents today limit their ability to socialize offline much more than they do. the past. Teens always want to hang out with their friends, but because they are often not allowed to go out to the mall or to the movies, their socialization has shifted online. Considering the importance of technology to teens, well-meaning suggestions like "Nobody cares what you had for breakfast" or "Just delete your account" are likely to get an exaggerated look. If a child has been the victim of cyberbullying, their access to technology - even though it is a well-intentioned precautionary measure - can also victimize them reduce their likelihood of telling adults about future incidents. 2. Define Rules for Online Interaction Accepting technology does not mean ignoring it. Out of one in eight par...