Cyberchat #8
Dear Friend,
As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, I know from personal experience how devasting the effects of cyberbullying can be on queer-identifying folks and beyond. We know that youth who are seen as different, be that due to their sexual identity, gender, learning abilities, culture, or disability, are often most vulnerable to being bullied. I can’t express how grateful I am to get the opportunity to go out into our community and give young people and adults who care about them the tools they need to deal with bullying online. Thanks for taking an active role in keeping our kids safe, celebrating what makes them unique, and reinforcing that no matter how hopeless things might feel, they do indeed get better.
Anthony Methvin
SafetyNet® Presenter
Most are familiar with traditional bullying which includes name-calling, unwelcome teasing, pushing, shoving, and stealing, but with the online world came an entirely new way of being targeted: cyberbullying. Unlike in-person bullying, cyberbullies follow their victims wherever they go on their devices with potential 24/7 access to them.
The Cyberbullying Research Center defines a cyberbully as, “someone who repeatedly and intentionally harasses, mistreats, or makes fun of another person online or while using cell phones or other electronic devices.” In their most recent research study, approximately 55% of their nationally representative sample of middle and high school students reported they experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lifetimes. Cyberbullying is persistent and ongoing, with the most common platform being social media. Up to 95% of youth ages 13–17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly.”
Adolescent suicide is also on the rise in the United States, with recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that nearly 14% of adolescents have made a suicide attempt. Just a few years ago, a 15-year-old boy in Chicago, took his own life as a result of relentless cyberbullying by his classmates.
According to the American SPCC, cyberbullying can have lasting negative physical, psychological, and emotional effects. Victims of cyberbullying experience higher rates of depression and anxiety, difficulty sleeping, a lower sense of self-worth, eating disorders, and are more likely to attempt suicide.
Some warning signs that your child may be a victim of cyberbullying include:
- Rapid change in clothing style
- Sudden disinterest in activities liked before
- Disruption in sleeping habits
- Bags under their eyes
- Change in appetite
- Mood swings
- Don’t want to go to school
Like technology, cyberbullying is constantly evolving. A newer form of cyberbullying, called doxxing, has become more common, often targeting adults. Doxxing is the act of searching for and publishing private or identifying information about someone with the intent to harm them. This information may include phone numbers, home or work addresses, financial data, identification numbers, and personal photos that could make the victim identifiable and potentially exposed to further harassment, humiliation, and sometimes threats.
Tips for protecting yourself from doxxing:
- Ensure that your profiles, usernames/handles are kept private
- Remove any addresses, places of work, and specific locations from your accounts
- Set your posts to “friends only”
- Avoid discussing personal information that could be used against you
- Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Although doxxing is illegal in states like California, an estimated 11 million Americans report that they’ve personally been victims of these attacks. To learn more, check out our “Resources” section.
Resources
- Get Help Now
- Cyberbullying Research Center
- Trevor Project Suicide Hotline for LGBTQ+ Youth
- Buckets Over Bullying
- American Society for the Positive Care of Children (American SPCC)
- Advice for Adult Victims of Cyberbullying
- Protect yourself from “Doxxing”
Safety Tips
- Step 1: Block
- Take away access to yourself
- Screenshot all messages being sent to you before blocking
- Step 2: Report
- Identify who to report to
- Parents/Guardians, School Administration
- Proper authorities
- Physical harm is being threatened
- If they get in the way of a child’s legal right to an education
- Step 3: Ignore
- Do not engage with a cyberbully
OurPact’s App Rules
We know that social media platforms have the potential to be breeding grounds for cyberbullying. Knowing what apps your child uses is only half the battle to keeping them safe online. OurPact provides tools for parents to control their children’s access to these potentially dangerous apps and restrict access if their children are victims of cyberbullying or participating in bullying. Using OurPact’s App Rules feature, you can choose apps to be Always Blocked, allowing you to set age-appropriate and safe limitations on social media usage and prevent potential harms like cyberbullying. Learn how to block apps and set healthy management rules with OurPact’s management. More details here.
Our SafetyNet® Program Manager, Wendy Waddell, discusses cyber safety and online predators in this episode of the Healthy Screen Habits Podcast. Check it out!
SafetyNet: Smart Cyber Choices® is a collaborative program of the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (SD-ICAC) and the San Diego Police Foundation. It is designed to help kids, parents, educators, and concerned adults learn how to keep kids safe online.