What to Do If Someone is Bullied by Social Media

The Internet and social media have become one of the most powerful forces in recent years. With a multiplicity of avenues for interaction, there tends to be an increase in the ease by which people can propagate hate and bully over such avenues. Social media has many great advantages, which are very well known, but also comes with some challenges. One of the challenges posed is social media bullying. So in this article today, we shall look at how we can prevent or stop bullying by social media.

What is the expression of social media bullying?

By definition, cyberbullying is the use of social media technology to harass, threaten, target, or try to embarrass another person or aim at and damage their character or perception online.

Bullying by social media can take many forms, such as sending mean messages to people or threats to a person's life, aggressive or rude texts, tweets, posts, or messages. It can also steal a person's account information to publicize private information by spreading it on social media websites.

Social media bullying can be problematic because of many reasons due to:

• Anonymity, the difficulty in tracing such bullying and damaging pictures, videos, posts, or messages, and the fact that the people who perpetrate these acts don't have to face the victims physically to perpetuating the acts.
• Cyberbullying can be very damaging to adolescents and teenagers, as it can lead to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and even, in extreme cases, suicide.

What can you do if you are being bullied on social media?

It has been established that bullying on social media is bad and can cause lasting problems. So what can you do about it?

Well, there are several things to do if you're a teenager or adolescent who is being bullied on social media.

• The first thing is to tell someone. Telling a trusted adult is often easier said than done, but as an adage says: a problem shared is half-solved. You may be embarrassed and very reluctant to report a bully. It is made even more difficult when you do not even know the identity of the social media bully. It is, however, still wise to tell a trusted adult who can decide on a course of action to take.
• It is also advisable to take a step away from the website or app on which the bullying occurred. Also, you should not make hasty decisions of replying or forwarding the disturbing video, picture, post, or message. It is important not to respond to a social media bully with anger, as it can cause more problems. You should also refrain from deleting the evidence of bullying, as it may be needed to help prove your case if it does get to it.
• The next step would be to report the bully. Social media websites tend to take cases of cruel and mean posts seriously and have a button for reporting such acts of bullying. The social media site administrators then decide on the course of action, such as removing the offensive content, blocking the bully from accessing your profile, or stopping the bully from using the social media website altogether. You can also choose to block the bully on social media.
• Lastly, as a precaution, you must always keep your private images and videos safe and away from people who might abuse or upload them online.

What should parents do if their children are being bullied?

As young children who are obsessed with social media are often the target of social media bullying, yet they are too young to handle these things alone. That's why parents need to take active roles in helping their child with social media bullying.

• Admit that social media bullying does exist. The first step in stopping social media bullying is to realize that it even exists in the first place. Do some research about social media bullying to prepare yourself when your kids need your help to handle it.
• Be observant. Not every parent can notice their children's small changes like getting withdrawn, preferring to stay in a room alone, or can not get away from their phones. All these changes can be related to social media bullying. Parents need to be observant to notice these changes so that they can take necessary actions.
• Monitor kid's social accounts using modern technology. It can be difficult for parents to get the truth out of their kids as they may be threatened not to tell parents about the bullying behavior. That's why parents should opt for modern technology. Using modern technology like FamiSafe, parents can monitor the 7 mainstream social platforms and receive alerts when suspicious content is detected on them. What's worth noting is that it also protects kid's privacy, and parents can only check the messages that contain explicit information. This makes using this app more acceptable to our kids.

Except for the above-mentioned feature, FamiSafe also provides features that can help parents solve most of their concerns.

• Activity Report: Ever wondered what your children are doing with their Android devices all day long? This feature will show you the complete activity report in a timeline format so that you can get to know your kids' phone usage routine better.
• Block unwanted apps and set screen time restrictions: Apps like social media and games often taken up most of our children's time. FamiSafe has features that can block apps or set total screen time limit to help parents manage their children's digital device usage.
• Create a safe online environment: Browsing online is a good way to learn, yet it can also be a place where kids get exposed to age-inappropriate content. FamiSafe has dedicated three features to make the online environment safe for our kids: Web Filter, Browser History, and Safe Search.
• Keep kids safe in real-life: Always wondering where your kids are? You can track the real-time location, review previous location history and set up geofences to receive a notification when your kids enter or leave the setup area using FamiSafe.

About half of teenagers have been victims of different kinds of bullying at some point in their lives is a disturbing trend that needs to be curtailed. Parents should learn ways to keep their kids away from bullying.

If you find out that your child is being bullied, it is important to take it seriously and approach it with caution, definitiveness, and level-headedness.

Protecting children from the myriad of harmful information that floats on the Internet and that can be directed through social media is something that must be done.It is also important to talk to kids about bullying by social media and the serious and severe consequences.

Other important things like not to share anything private through text or instant messaging, keeping personal information safe and away from places where it could be found should also be imbibed in children.

Social media bullying is a menace that has come with the new age of abundant connection and information. Its consequences are humongous and far-reaching. This is why it is important to protect kids from bullies, where they may be found, either in school or on the Internet. If you find out that your child is a cyberbully or sends inappropriate messages to his peers, it is important not to overlook it. Sit the child down, and have a calm discussion about the consequences of such actions. In all, bullying on social media is a problem that must be tackled at all costs to foster a safe environment for kids to grow and flourish.