October is national Bullying Prevention Month. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that occurs when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. One in 10 U.S. students have reported being the victim of cyberbullying. Here are a few things you should know about cyberbullying and a few things you can do if your mentee is a victim.
1) Cyberbullying is instant, ongoing, and it may be permanent: a mentee may be the victim of having someone write something mean, nasty, or untrue on Facebook, post embarrassing pictures or information about them, or create a website or blog about how much they hate your mentee. Because teens are posting and checking posts constantly, downloading, and passing on information, students can send these posts to friends and classmates before the victim even knows about them. Some items, like Facebook posts and text messages, can be erased by the victim. Other posts, like photos or blogs, may be around until the author takes them down.
2) Your mentee may be a victim, bully, bystander, or all three: ask your mentee what exactly is happening and what is his or her role. Ask how he or she knows bully (friend, classmate, stranger), how frequently and for how long has the bullying taken place, and how safe he or she feels.
3) Actions to take if your mentee is the victim: Encourage your mentee not to engage the bully immediately. Take time to figure out what is happening, cool down, and not retaliate. Help the mentee print out what he/she can and save all correspondence including text messages, facebook posts, pictures, etc. Help your mentee document times, websites/chat rooms, screen names, and any witnesses posts. Advise the mentee to temporarily stop using the particular social networking site and encourage them to reflect on what is happening and plan out a course of action.
4) Steps to take if the bullying is ongoing: at times cyberbullying is one-time, playground-type gossip. But if the cyberbullying continues, intensifies, or becomes threatening, you'll want to help your mentee take further action. Advise your mentee to talk with his or her parent or guardian about reporting any harassment or threats to network administrators and local authorities. You and your mentee can contact school administrators or their school counselor. Although school officials may not be able to directly get involved in events that don't happen at school, they may be able to provide information and resources.
