Parents vs. Cyber-bullying; how parents can win

Whenever I hear the term cyber-bullying, the image brought to my mind is; one of constant, never ending harassment on Facebook. It would not occur to me to think of manipulated images, vicious postings, and fake profiles dedicated to the victim’s misery. That is a lot of work, even for a person who has an ax to grind. I have come to realize that social media has changed the nature of confrontation. There is a generation gap that is hard to understand for those who are over the age of thirty.
Kids don’t or won’t say what is on their mind to a person that they have a disagreement or problem with face-to-face. It’s easier to build up courage on a computer keyboard and let your fingers do the talking. With anonymity being so easily attained, people seem to be more willing to be vicious online than in person. I compare it, to meeting women online; it’s easier to use the keyboard to meet women, than to actually approach a beautiful woman in person. With cyber-bullying, anyone of any size, age or gender that has access to a computer can be as cruel as they like.

Here is some advice for parents, showing them how they can win in the battle against cyber-bullying, and generally increase their digital awareness.

As a parent you cannot be friends with your kids, you must be the parent. I cannot stress this enough. Your kids must respect you and your authority. There are way too many parents out there already, who have made the mistake of being friends to their children.

Parents should not be afraid to demand full access to their children’s online worlds, including text messages, Facebook profiles and e-mail accounts.

In 2011, you should have some sort of computer monitoring software to monitor your teenager’s online world. You can’t just look over his or her shoulder. Let monitoring software do it for you.

Don’t be afraid to ask your child for photos and images they have uploaded to sites such as Facebook.

The main reason kids don’t tell parents about being cyber-bullied is the fear of how their parent will react. Let them know you will not take away their computer privileges.

Set up the computer in a common area where you can supervise your child’s Internet use. Talk to your child about responsible online behavior.

Let your children know what cyberbullying is and that it is unacceptable behavior on their part in any circumstance.

Today, threats come in many different forms. The computer is just another device used to communicate. Like any other electronic device, the computer is not different, but how it’s used is what makes it so dangerous.