You may or may have not heard recent talk about cyber bullying and cyber stalking. This is something real that is happening to adult bloggers. If it is scary for an adult, then you can imagine how it must feel for a tween or a teen to be a victim of such a thing.Here are ten tips offered by Ellen Ohlenbusch, a mom who also happens to be President of McGruff Safeguard, on how to protect your child from being a victim of cyber bullying . . .
1. Keep computers in an open area – not in a child’s bedroom
2. Tell kids to keep passwords safe, private and difficult to guess – no pet names as passwords!
3. Don’t allow your child to maintain multiple accounts with alias names
4. Teach children to respect others online, as they would in person
5. Discuss bullying and the emotional impact it creates
6. Discuss what content is and is not appropriate to share online
7. Tell kids that what they post online is “out there” forever – they can’t control how other people will use their photos or information
8. Discuss how ‘piling’ on is not appropriate. That while they may not start something, if they see cyber bullying happening, they should not contribute.
9. Set a clear standard/example for your children to follow
10. Install a parental monitoring software that sends email alerts if cyber bullying is detected.
As a tool to assist parents, McGruff Safeguard offers a FREE parental monitoring software that analyzes emails, chats and IMs, and social networking websites. To learn more about this software, visit GoMcGruff.com .
Thank you to McGruff Safeguard and Middleberg Communications for providing the information shared in this article.
