Teaching children and adolescents how to act safely on social media is an important part of modern parenting. We take care not to provide children with personal information, to limit their online connections and friends to those who know them personally, and to keep everything posted on the Internet there forever. To do.
Currently, the basics of online security are firmly established in many, if not most, homes, but less attention is paid to online bullying.
According to a 2018 Ipsos survey, New Zealand’s cyberbullying is the third highest in the world (based on surveys in 29 countries), with more than 25% of parents reporting that their children experienced cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying and its impact
Cyberbullying is when someone uses technology to bully someone else. It can take numerous forms and include:
Sending hateful messages
Posting mean comments on other people’s posts
Posting hurtful things about others on social media
Threatening physical harm or actions designed to embarrass
Unlike face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying can be difficult to detect for a variety of reasons. For one thing, bullies can easily hide behind their computers. It can also be difficult for parents, and even victims, to distinguish between “normal” teasing in the school playground and more insidious ones.
The effects of cyberbullying are similar to those of face-to-face bullying. Children can withdraw, feel unhappy, suffer from low self-esteem, and experience anxiety and depression.
Where cyberbullying happens
Cyberbullying occurs on various platforms. Most notable is the epidemic of toxic behavior on social media and gaming platforms. The battle between social media companies and organizations to censor abusive language is well documented, but one platform that remains under the radar is YouTube.
For example, a Cox survey reported that 54% of teenage participants witnessed cyberbullying, and 29% of these cases were seen on YouTube. According to a report from the
2018 Pew Research Center, 85% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 have YouTube accounts, and 32% are the most frequently used social platform by video-sharing giants. I am saying.
YouTube’s great appeal to teens and early teens today is due to several factors, especially the very wide range of content available. It can also be viral. Some young celebrities have found their first audience on YouTube, and many others have found lucrative careers as content creators and influencers.
However, the level of abuse suffered by some well-known YouTube users is amazing. Daniel Corn was the first to win viewers with her lip-sync and dance videos. By the age of 13, Daniel had earned enough money to support her family. Her family eventually moved to Los Angeles, allowing Daniel to get closer to the brand she worked with.
But alongside her success, she met her considerable hatred, including several Instagram pages dedicated to anti-Daniel sentiment. Aotearoa’s own Lord spoke of her and her then-partner James Lowe’s cyberbullying in 2013, along with a number of racist comments on James.
Preventing and handling cyberbullying
Education is the best attack on cyberbullying. Parents need to be open to their children about what it means to be a good digital citizen. It mainly consists of treating others online as if they were in real life.
Parents can be confident that their children will be informed of what to do if they experience online bullying.
Blocks, Reports, Deletes – You can remove bullying comments on your child’s own posts and report on harassment. You can block the bully himself.
Talk to a trusted adult-whether the adult is a parent, friend’s parent, teacher, or family friend. Adults should keep in mind that the best way to deal with cyberbullying is not to remove online privileges.
Cyberbullying on YouTube and other social platforms is an issue that is unlikely to go away soon, especially due to the growing influence of social media among teens. Prevention begins at home. New Zealand police have listed here a number of resources to help fight bullying.
