Technology has seen a steady growth over the past few years and has become an important part of people’s daily life. It has helped us do daily activities faster and more efficient than ever before. Whether your kids are studying at an international school in the Philippines or a progressive school in Manila, it is easy to see how technology has greatly affected most especially their academic lives. In addition, communication has also improved, as more individuals can now go to the internet and access various social media sites, where they can conveniently interact with their friends and loved ones.
Despite the many benefits of using social media, there are things that you and your child must be wary of. One of them is cyberbullying, which can negatively affect him mentally and emotionally. This can happen to anyone, and as a parent, you could appoint yourself to keep an eye out on these things. To help you out, we listed down the different types of cyberbullying you should be aware of.
Harassing/Trolling
In recent times, trolling has become quite a popular term because of the internet. For those who are not familiar with it, it is being referred to as the act of being rude and saying hurtful words to other people via the World Wide Web. An example of this is someone providing malicious instructions without the intention of really helping the other individual. Trolling and harassing are some of the most common forms of cyberbullying.
Usually, this happens when someone sends threatening and malicious messages to your child or his friends. These threats, abusive messages, and rude comments can negatively affect your child’s overall well-being, which in turn, can affect him emotionally and mentally – making him feel anxious and fearful.
Keep in mind that cyberbullies have a tendency to repeat these harmful messages and might even lead to physical confrontation. Some of these people also tend to hide behind fake profiles to cover their identity, which makes them harder to track and catch.
Exclusion
Another common cyberbullying act, exclusion is being done by a group of people deliberately ostracizing one person from their online group, which is common in social media messaging.
Other forms of exclusion include not inviting your child to events or parties, or not mentioning or tagging him on social media posts. There are many reasons for this to happen, some of which include him not having a certain item, or not following a trend that others follow.
Exclusion is really harmful for your child’s confidence and wellbeing, as getting recognized and interacting with his peers is very important.
Cyberstalking
Social media profiles can show a lot of sensitive information to a lot of online users like age, location, education, contact details, pictures, and videos. While this information helps your child’s friends interact and know more about each other, this can also be a huge risk to his safety – one of which is cyberstalking. It is the act of following a person’s actions and activities obsessively on social media.
This act can lead to abuse, manipulative behavior, and even physical harassment. There have also been cases in which these stalkers access these profiles to make advances to other people, which is another grave issue that is clearly present today.
Fraping
According to the Macmillan Dictionary, fraping comes from two words: Facebook and rape. Essentially, it could mean other people posting and inappropriate content on your child’s social media account without your knowledge and consent. This is a grave form of cyberbullying that some people still find entertaining and funny, when in fact, it is a damaging act that can affect one’s reputation and can bring a lot of problems.
Outing
This happens when bullies humiliate your child by posting information about him on various social media sites. This can be private and discreet information, or something that is embarrassing. This act is very damaging and harmful since people can use this information against your child and can cause him to become ashamed to the point that he might choose not to go to school or meet his friends.
Denigration
One of the older bullying practices, denigration happens when people create rumors and craft stories about your child. This kind of gossip tends to damage friendships and other relationships because your child’s friends would be unsure of what to believe anymore. This can lead to exclusion and isolation, which in turn causes emotional scars and trauma.
How to prevent cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is very harmful and must not be dealt with lightly. It is best to make sure that it does not happen to your child by teaching him how to protect himself. Here are two effective and helpful ways to prevent cyberbullying:
1. Make sure that your child’s social media profiles are private
It is common to see a lot of public social media profiles, and this can potentially expose people to harm. To prevent this from happening, make sure that your child’s social media profiles are kept private so that he is protected from bullies or other threatening individuals.
2. Do not post sensitive information
Some people tend to post some important and sensitive information that can be used against your child. Guide him to think before he posts anything. Tell him what kind of information is safe to post and show him the consequences of how information can be used against his well-being.
Key Takeaway
Technology has given us a lot of advantages and benefits, but it has also created a new set of problems for a lot of people. By helping your child prevent himself from being cyberbullied, he would be safe from being harmed by his peers or by strangers.