Prevent cyberbullying In children and adolescents is one of the most important actions that can be done to avoid the negative consequences that can produce on the mental health of children and adolescents.
Communication and Information Technologies (ICTs) have made great progress in recent decades and, as a consequence, society in the Which we live in has also been modified.
The TIC Have provided many benefits for human knowledge and for the dissemination of information.
However, we can not deny that the Internet is exempt from damages, among which we can find the Bullying through the network .
What is cyberbullying?
Since Olweus began to study peer violence - more commonly known as bullying -, in the year 1970, it began to arouse the sensitivity for Part of parents and educators towards the violence that occurs among the minors.
The concept of bullying - or mistreatment among schoolchildren - encompasses not only physical violence, but also psychological violence, which occurs through insults, Threats, shouts, etc.
On the other hand, Cyberbullying " A specific type of harassment, which occurs among minors in the world of technologies Interactive, whose actions can be defined as"blackmail, harassment or insults from one child to another."
Although it can be thought that bullying and cyberbullying are manifestations of the same type of violence, there are characteristics that Cyberbullying in a particularly dangerous type of harassment.
The characteristics that make it a particular phenomenon are:
Absence of face-to-face contact.
Maintaining aggressive messages or actions for longer.
Existence of a larger audience - and more difficult to control.
Therefore, we speak of a type of harassment whose effects occur in different contexts - including the personal, interpersonal, intragroup and Contextual- and that generates doubts about its approach and treatment, due to the ignorance of teachers, families and students.
In addition, a few years ago, before the rise of Information and Communication Technologies, when a child was a victim of bullying, Home and feeling"safe", since their aggressors could not invade that space.
However, since these behaviors of harassment among school children are also manifested through the Internet, victims feel unprotected Even in your own home.
7 Strategies to prevent cyberbullying
In order to tackle this problem properly and to prevent cyberbullying, a multidisciplinary intervention is necessary, in which Work from school - with aggressors, victims and passive spectators - and from the family itself.
In addition to this work by professionals, there are some specific guidelines to prevent cyberbullying, such as Following:
1. Educate boys and girls in habits of self-protection
Many teens entrust personal data, intimate photos or other information with people who may use it against them.
For this reason, it is important that the children begin to differentiate between the information that they should and should not contribute, that keep their privacy safe and that Do not maintain a relationship online with people you do not know in person.
You have to make them see that the more personal information they provide to other people, the more vulnerable they are.
Another aspect to keep in mind is to make them see the importance of acting on social networks just as they would in reality.
In this way, they will understand that, just as they do not talk to a stranger on the street, they should not do it through the internet either.
2. To stop the harassment in the networks before the first manifestations
The maintenance of cyberbullying can be explained by the passive attitude that usually presents the victim, since it does not act to avoid it or does not go to the People.
In this way, stalkers begin to perceive that no one is going to put a stop to their manifestations of violence, so they experience a sensation Of control over the situation.
What is recommended in these cases is for the victim to keep the necessary evidence - photographs, comments, private messages - and to go to teachers or others Figures of authority to take up the matter.
In no case do you respond to insults or provocative acts, since this leads to aggravation of the problem - the aggressor will be satisfied by Have provoked you and will not perceive any punishment.
From home, it is important to show an open and understanding attitude, which facilitates communication between the different members of the family.
3. Do not allow harassment to occur in any of its manifestations
It is necessary to activate in individuals the willingness to act in terms of ethical content, according to minimum universal values and Against harassment and violence in any of its manifestations.
Therefore, we must work to ensure that minors do not become passive spectators, whether they witness actual violence or Networks, since the aggressors will perceive that no one can stop them.
If you know someone who is in this situation, take letters in the matter and inform the competent authority - teachers, relatives, etc. - for To act in the best way possible.
In this way, the victim will receive more attention from the people around him, in those cases where he is afraid to tell his situation.
It is important that this problem begins to be conceived as an issue that involves us all, whether victims, friends or relatives of victims or Spectators.
4. Teach children to use passwords and secure access keys
As we have seen before, a form of cyberbullying occurs when aggressors usurp the social networking profiles of their victims.
Therefore, it is necessary that children understand the importance of being careful with their passwords.
Some tips that should be given are:
Do not choose intuitive passwords , Such as birthday, name and surnames, etc. It is advisable to use letters and numbers that have no special meaning - or only Meaning for the user himself.
Do not disclose passwords to anyone. It is advisable that nobody has access to passwords and passwords, even if they are close friends or trusted people.
Be careful when logging into a public site. When using computers to which other people have access, be especially careful that the key is not automatically saved On the computer, as well as making sure that you have logged out properly.
Otherwise, if these security measures are not taken, the minor is exposed to other people being able to access private information, publish in their Name, etc.
5. Learn to act if a minor tells you that you are a victim of cyberbullying
The first thing to do, to know this situation, is to comfort the child and show your support and understanding.
Having felt unprotected for a certain time, the child will be in need of emotional support and feeling of security.
Later, it tries to extract more information on the concrete case - duration, frequency, type of harassment in the networks -, with the objective of evaluating its gravity.
In the case of long-term harassment, with constant threats and carried out by children who have personal information from the Victim, such as personal address, school attended, videos or photos committed, the most appropriate is to inform the police to offer Protection and information.
Remember that, at all times, you must be aware that the victim of cyberbullying feels protected - and is actually protected.
6. Make the victim stop frequenting the pages where they are harassed
In order to avoid harassment, it is sometimes advisable for the child to stop visiting those pages or social networks in which he or she is a victim of Cyberbullying
In the case of social networks, the victim may choose to create another profile - with a more difficult name to find - and eliminate the previous one, with the Aim to add only the people you really know and with whom you want to keep in touch.
With respect to mobile devices, it is sometimes necessary to change numbers, especially if insults, threats and other manifestations Of harassment are carried out through calls or messages.
Thus, by restricting the access of the stalkers - especially if they are anonymous - to the victim, it avoids that the cyberbullying persists.
7. Teaching to value the positive part of internet use
In spite of the dangers that the Internet use , We must not forget its advantages and benefits - acquiring new knowledge, Possibility of sharing hobbies, among others.
If you want your children or students to benefit from the positive side, teach them to use it responsibly by visiting pages of their interest and Establishing reasonable schedules - avoiding their use at night or for long periods of time.
It is also important that you check the pages you frequent and the activity you are carrying out - in order to detect if your child is being victimized or Cyberbullying aggressor.
What is the cause of cyberbullying?
Among the causes that explain the emergence of this new type of harassment, we can find the following:
Development and mastery of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). As we have already mentioned, one of the negative aspects of ICTs is that some people misuse them, using them With the aim of harming others.
Camouflaged harassment. Another factor that explains this type of abuse is that the perpetrators remain anonymous, hide behind the computer screen and Dehumanize the victim (they take their aggressions as a joke, since they do not see the reaction that provokes in the other person).
Impotence of the victim. When the aggressor does not show his true identity, he creates in the victim a feeling of impotence and frustration, so he can not Defend or find the aggressors, many times.
Ignorance about the method of action in cyberbullying. Many teaching professionals and families of victims of this type of harassment do not know how to act to prevent or stop the Cyberbullying
Legal helplessness of harassment in the network. While it is true that certain content that appears on the internet can be removed, this procedure is sometimes too late. In addition, deleting certain offensive content does not ensure that it will not be re-produced (or there may be people who have saved that information or Pejorative photos on their mobile devices).
How does it manifest?
There are different ways in which perpetrators can carry out cyberbullying, such as those listed below:
The aggressor can create a false profile to gain the victim's confidence - or to remain anonymous -, after which the Insults, threats, etc.
Through private messages, they threaten or insult the victim. For example, messages in which the victim is forced to do something against Their will under the threat of which they will publish photos compromised or that will do him physical damage.
They can also publish information accessible to all victim and abuser contacts (for example, writing insults on their wall, or Sharing photos or videos showing how they hit the victim).
Another form of violence occurs when the victim is discharged - with a photo included - on web pages where the ugliest person is voted, plus Fat, etc.
Invade the pages frequented by the victim and harass him repeatedly, so that the person suffering the harassment has a sense of complete burden.
Send or spread cruel rumors about someone who damages his reputation or harms him to his friends.
Manipulate digital materials: photos, recorded conversations, emails, change them, chew and modify them to ridicule and damage to people.
Steal passwords to supplant your identity.
And you, what other tips would you add to prevent cyberbullying?
References
- González, E. M. (2011). From parents who do not educate and educators who are not parents. Responsibility of parents and educators in the conduct of" Cyberbullying '." Magazine of the Spanish Association of Lawyers Specialized in Civil Liability and Insurance , (38), 9-20.
- Martínez, J.M.A. (2010). School success and cyberbullying. Psychology Bulletin , (98), 73-85.
- Martinez, J.M.A. (2009). Cyberbullying: Differences between high school students. Psychology Bulletin , (1996), 79-96.
- Prados, M. Á. H., & Fernández, I. M. S. (2007). Cyberbullying, a problem of school bullying / (Cyberbullying, a bullying problem). Ibero-American Journal of Distance Education , 10 (1), 17.