Cyberbullying: Stay safe, Stay Smart

Cyberbullying:

Stay safe, Stay SmartBased on Justin Patchin’s Book: Words Wound

Review

During the last homeroom, we explored how bullying affects families, friends, and the person who is being bullied. We also asked that you Stand Up, Speak Up and Step Up against bullying. Doing nothing actually is doing something: It is silently agreeing with the bullying. What specific strategies can you use to help/stand up to bullying this were your friend?

For the past 8 months I have been cyberbullied. Someone who I thought was my friend started to talk about me. Little by little it just kept getting worse. I’d go online and see things that she and her friend post about me and then I would burst into tears. When summer started things started to die down since we weren’t in school anymore. Just when I thought it was over, it started up again. I feel so alone at times. I feel like nobody understands. Every time she and her friend post something online I don’t speak up for myself. I feel like if I try to defend myself, they’ll just twist my words and use them against me. I just don’t know what do anymore.Ava, 15

BE THERE:

The simplest thing that you can do when you see someone is being treated badly is to be a friend to him or her. The moment when somebody is being harassed, teased, threatened, or humiliated is probably the very moment when he/she feels the most alone. That person needs a reminder that others really do care.

BUILD A GROUP EFFORT:

After stepping up and being a friend to someone who is being bullied, take your efforts further. Consider getting some of your friends to come together and rally around the person being bullied. There is strength-and safety-in numbers. Even when you most want to do what is right, you’ll probably be a little worried about becoming the next target of the bully. If your voice and support is echoed by others, you will feel stronger and more secure.

CRUSH CRUEL CONTENT:

We have all seen a YouTube video that starts with a few viewers and then goes viral. In the same way, online rumors, gossip, and other hurtful content can go from person to person to person in just seconds. This chain reaction can be devastating, but you can stop it in its tracks by never forwarding or sharing cruel or inappropriate content. When you do face these situations-moments when you have to decide whether to participate, step up, or speak up, how will you respond?

RECORD IT AND REPORT IT:

To protect yourself and those being bullied, keep track of who, what, and when bullying behavior occurs. Screen shots and written journals can establish a repeated pattern of behavior that adults and websites can use as evidence to stop the bullying behavior. Please share this information with a trusted adult.

TALK TO A TRUSTED ADULT:

When you are concerned about a family member or friend who is being bullied, you need support and should confide in a trusted adult. A trusted adult is someone who will listen to you carefully when you explain the problem and will ask what you would like to see happen-someone who will make sure that your voice is heard and will work with you to come up with a plan that makes sense. This trusted adult will work behind the scenes to resolve the bullying problem without directly or publicly involving you. The adult will try to protect both you and the person being bullied. Possible trusted adults include: your parents or other adult family members, an adult at school-teacher, counselor or principal, a coach, faith leader, or a close family friend.

Cyberbullying: What is it?

As the use of technology expends, a new type of bullying behavior is rapidly growing: Cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is harassment and intimidation that takes place through text messages, online posts, email, or other electronic forms of communication. It is defined as a situation in which someone intentionally and repeatedly makes fun of or mistreats another person on social media sites.

Cyberbullying: How do you protect yourself?

Stay Smart and Stay Safe: How can you protect yourself from cyberbullying? How do you stay smart and safe using social media? Let’s take a little quiz to find out if your social media habits are putting you at risk. (Please hand out quiz to homeroom students. Quiz results are on the next slide.)

Cyberbullying: Quiz Results

Results: 0 points: Congratulations-you are acting in safe and smart ways. Keep it up. 1-10 points: You are acting pretty safe but some on your online activity puts

you at risk. 11-20 points: Your social media habits are definitely risky but it’s not too late

to protect yourself and your privacy. Listen closely to the suggestions to follow.

Safety tips:

If you have ever been harassed online, you probably wonder if there was something that you could have done to keep it from happening or prevent it from happening in the future. While you probably won’t be able to prevent every single instance of disrespectful behavior, we would like to provide you some simple strategies to reduce the likelihood of it happening.

Safety tips:

Be Careful with the Content You Post: The next time you text, tweet, email or post, take a minute to think about the fact that anything you do online could eventually be seen by anyone. Once a piece of information enters cyberspace, you lose control over it. Your friends/enemies can then “tweak” your posted information and use it in anyway.

Safety tips:

The Internet Never Forgets: Whether you like it or not, some people will judge you based on how you appear online. That’s just the way it is. And it can be almost impossible to completely remove something from the Internet once it’s out there. So do your best not to let anything be posted that is likely to compromise your reputation or be used against you. Be sure that you let your friends know where you stand when it comes to social media (tagging, etc.).

Safety tips:

Google yourself: One way to protect yourself from online dangers is to keep an eye on what has been said or posted about you. You can do this by regularly using Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc., to look for your full name and screen names that you use on social media sites. Another popular tool is using either socialmention.com or nutshellmail.com. On both sites, you can get email updates when your name/screen name is mentioned on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social sites.

Safety tips:

Never Respond to Mysterious Messages: Would your respond to junk mail or answer a phone call from an “unidentified” caller? Treat tweets and texts the same way-with care. NEVER open an attachment from a stranger  as it may have a harmful program called a Trojan horse that collects your personal and private data.

Safety tips:

Always Log Out: Most social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram let you remain logged in even after you close your Web browser or close out your app. This is convenient when you revisit the site but there is a problem: Anyone else that uses your device can also easily access your account if your login credentials are stored. Here is a common scenario:

You were checking your Facebook page on the family computer and then you leave without logging out. Your mom uses the computer next, and she surfs over to Facebook. While there she clicks “like” on the fan page for her favorite TV show, sends a friend request to a coworker, and comments on your brother’s latest post. Unfortunately, she does all this while logged into YOUR account!! Needless to say, you can understand how someone that wants to hurt you could use

your stored “log in” against you.

Safety tips:

Guard Your Goods and Protect Your Passwords: It is very easy to “borrow” a friend’s phone, IPad, tablet, etc. to take a quick picture, text a quick message, etc. If someone uses your device, the person receiving the information will think that it is from you. Protect yourself by locking down your devices with passcodes or swipe patterns. Keep passwords confidential.

Safety tips:

Location, Location, Location: Most smartphones, digital cameras, tablets, and similar devices include geotagging features. Geotagging ties location based metadata into photos, videos, text messages, and other content. While this information is great to let your friends know where you are, it also tells everyone else that is connected to your social media site. It is wise to turn the location setting off to keep uninvited guest from showing up or using it against you.

Safety tips:

Think before you friend or follow: On top of setting up your privacy protections on Facebook and other sites so that only your friends can see your posts and other information, it is really important to know exactly who those friends are and to make sure they’re trustworthy.

Safety tips:

Catfishing: Catfishing is when someone pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances. This is a type of cyberbullying. Please be careful when choosing your online friends.

Reflection:

Brainstorm types of information that is never a good idea to post online. Discuss whether or not they see this kind of material online regularly. How does it make them feel? How have they responded to it in the past? What advice can you

share with your friends to keep them safe and smart? 

A personal safety assignment for you:

Please search for your name and user names on popular websites like Google, Social Mention (socialmention.com), and Zabasearch. What personal information is in the web about you?

Please view your Facebook and Instagram profiles as if they were strangers who stumbled upon them (that is, to search for themselves when they are not logged into their own accounts).  How secure are your current safety setting? Do you need to adjust them?