Preventing Cyberbullying

Children, parents, and educators all have a role in preventing cyberbullying

Children, parents, and educators all have a role in preventing cyberbullying.

What Educators Can Do

Many of these points were adapted from National Crime Prevention Council 2003 and Media Awareness Network 2004:

• Youth-targeted education is just as important, if not more so, than parent-targeted information because those youth needing intervention are less likely to have a strong relationship with their parents.
• Intervention in incidents of cyberbullying is not simply an opportunity to educate about safe and appropriate Internet use, but also an opportunity to intervene about other adolescent health-related issues, such as traditional bullying and substance use, the youth may be facing.
• Prevention and intervention efforts should recognize the relationship between victimization and aggression in the online environment.
• Target prevention and intervention efforts that are appropriate to this particular population – cyberbullies are more likely to be older teens and just as likely to be females as males (as compared to traditional bullies, who are more likely to be younger children and males).

>> Next, explore further resources on cyberbullying.