Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 4: Recognize cyberbullying signals
• Method 2 of 4: Take action to stop the bullying
• Method 3 of 4: Get help
• Method 4 of 4: Prevent Cyberbullying
• Tips
• Warnings

In cyberbullying or online bullying, someone is threatened or humiliated through electronic means of communication such as text messages, text messages, e-mail, private messages and posts on social media. People of all ages can become victims of cyberbullying, but in practice it is mainly teenagers and young people who are affected. The consequences can be just as severe as with personal bullying. Cyberbullying is never the victim's fault. If you are being bullied in this way, you can try to stop it by blocking the bully on the Internet and reporting the bullying to someone in authority.

To step

Method 1 of 4: Recognize cyberbullying signals

1. Watch for signs of harassment. Whether you yourself are afraid that you will be bullied, or as a parent you wonder whether your child might be bothered by it, a good way to detect cyberbullying is to pay attention to a number of characteristic signs. In cyberbullying, it is often the case that a certain person threatens or harasses someone else via text messages, e-mail, private messages, text messages or social media. Harassment occurs when the bully makes direct contact with someone with one or more of the following types of messages:
   • Hateful or Threatening Messages. This includes verbal abuse and attempts to control someone's behavior by threatening violence or by threatening to disseminate embarrassing information about someone.
   • Embarrassing or threatening photos or videos.
   • An endless stream of unwanted e-mails, private messages, apps or text messages, with whatever content.
   • Lies about someone that harm his or her image.
2. Watch for signs of public virtual humiliation. Another commonly used cyberbullying is where the bully harasses his or her victim by humiliating him or her in front of everyone, instead of contacting him or her directly. Cyber ​​bullies can use certain public tactics for this, such as spreading gossip and rumors from social media, via apps or text messages. Other means of public humiliation through online platforms include:
   • Post demeaning messages on social websites, a blog or on other platforms that are accessible to everyone.
   • Share embarrassing or intimate photos or videos on social media or via text messages or app messages.
   • Create a website full of photos, videos, rumors and insults, all designed to slander the victim.
3. Look for signs of verification. A less obvious but just as harmful way of cyberbullying is where the bully humiliates or harasses someone by pretending to be him or her. Somt, the culprit creates a username or screen name that is almost the same as someone else's username, and then uses that name to create situations that are demeaning or threatening to the other.
   • In this case it is more difficult to find out who the culprit is. Report this verification, ie the fact that someone is impersonating you, to the website or to your internet service provider.

Method 2 of 4: Take action to stop the bullying

1. Ask the bully to stop. Sometimes the bully is a former boyfriend or girlfriend of yours, your ex, or someone else you know well. If it's possible to talk to them in a reasonable way, just ask them to stop to start. Have that conversation in person and not via email, app or text message. Try to be clear and direct, saying something like, "I've seen those things you said about me on Facebook. You can't do that and it's very offensive to me, so I want to ask you to stop. "
   • If you don't know who the bully is or if you are being bullied by a group of people, trying to talk it out is probably not an option.
2. Don't respond to the bully's messages. If talking out is not an option, do not respond to text messages, private messages, emails, or other communications you receive from the bully. Bullies try to provoke a reaction from their victim, so responding will only make things worse. The best you can do is not respond to it.
   • Also, don't threaten the bully by saying he or she will hear from you. Expressing your annoyance by returning threatening messages will only encourage the bully to continue, and it can also get you in trouble yourself.
3. Keep the evidence you have of cyberbullying. Take screenshots or save every email, text message and private messages, social media posts and any other evidence of cyberbullying you come across. Keep a record of the date and time of each message when it was sent. If you can't take a screenshot of the offending messages, you can copy them, paste them into a Word file, and then save it to your computer.
   • Gathering as much information about your bully's behavior as possible will help you determine how to make it stop.
   • You can also show the saved messages to your parents or someone at school to prove that you are being bullied.
4. Block the bully on all virtual platforms. Immediately make sure that the bully can no longer bother you by blocking all options he or she has to contact you. Use the social media privacy settings to stop the bully from communicating with you on social media. To protect yourself, do the following:
   • Delete him or her your e-mail contacts and block the possibility for this person to send you private messages.
   • Remove the person from all of your social networks. Use your privacy settings to stop him or her from contacting you.
   • Block the person on your phone so that he or she can no longer send you text messages.

Method 3 of 4: Get help

1. If you are a child or teenager, ask an adult you trust for help. Your parents as well as your teachers, your mentor or the school principal are in a position to end this problem before it gets worse. Don't kid yourself that the problem will go away on its own. Talk about it as soon as possible to end it.
   • Sometimes it can be tempting to let the bullying run its course instead of drawing attention to it. You only indirectly give the bully the idea that he or she can bother someone else without consequences.
2. If you are a victim of cyberbullying, speak to the school board. Tell someone in an authoritative position what is going on and explain exactly how you are being bullied as best you can. If you don't feel comfortable talking to someone on the board, confide in your favorite teacher or your mentor. Every school has a plan of action to combat bullying and more and more schools have a specific plan to stop cyberbullying.
   • Whatever specific rules apply at your school, solving the situation is part of the work of the management.
   • If you are a child or a teenager, make sure you know that it is a good idea to raise this issue at school. Other children can also be victims of cyberbullying. In order to do something about it, the school must be aware of the problem.
   • If you are a parent, ask if you can make an appointment with the principal or principal of the school to resolve the problem directly.
3. Report the bullying to your service provider and to the social media websites you use. Cyber ​​bullies generally violate the rules set for the use of social websites, cell phone networks, and other service providers. Read your carrier's terms of use and take steps to report the threats. The provider may decide to punish the bully in some way or to delete his or her account based on your complaint.
   • You may have to send the messages from the bully you saved to your provider to prove that you are being bullied by that person.
4. If you are dealing with severe bullying cases, go to the police. Sometimes cyberbullying takes on criminal forms and is no longer the responsibility of your school or internet service provider. If you are dealing with any of the following cyberbullying, call the nearest police station or report the incident to a cop at your school or on the street:
   • Threats of violence or even death.
   • Photos that are explicitly sexual in nature, or descriptions of sexual activities. If there is a minor in the photos, it could be child pornography.
   • Secretly taken photos or videos taken of someone without his or she realizing.
   • Hate messages or messages on the Internet in which the victim is chosen based on his or her race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

Method 4 of 4: Prevent Cyberbullying

1. Do not share sensitive personal information on the Internet. Cyber ​​bullies often search for photos, status updates and personal information that they find online and then use the material against their victim. You can put some information about yourself on the Internet, but never make anything public that you don't want the whole world to know about. Even if you want to have a serious, personal conversation with a friend, do so in person, not over tweets, Facebook posts, or Instagram comments.
   • For example, don't take explicit photos of yourself and then post them to a private Tumblr account.
   • Data typed in a comment on Facebook, in a post on Tumblr, or in a comment on Instagram can all end up in the wrong hands and be misused by cyber bullies. It is therefore preferable not to discuss highly personal topics online.
2. Do not engage in cyberbullying. If you feel left out yourself, or if you yourself are being bullied, there can be great temptation to express those negative feelings through bullying, to give yourself a sense of power. But even if you're the one doing it, cyberbullying is still wrong. Your behavior can influence that of others, so make it clear that you don't support cyberbullying by setting a good example to others.
   • If your friends start taunting someone over the Internet or texting, don't get involved. Ask them to stop and make them aware that cyberbullying can have the same harmful consequences as personal bullying.
3. Install special parental control software or apps on your PC and your smartphone. This type of software or apps blocks bullying attempts and prevents your son or daughter from accessing inappropriate material on the Internet. If you don't have it yet, ask your parents to install it.
   • If one of your children is being bullied, take immediate action and install protective software or activate dedicated apps to protect the privacy of your child and your family as a whole.

Tips

• In many cases of online bullying, the individuals involved have been in a relationship before. For example, the perpetrator spreads explicit or intimate photos of his or her ex as a form of revenge.
• Keep in mind that there is not always a clear reason for cyberbullying. Sometimes people take advantage of others to hide their own insecurities. In any case, it is never your own fault!
• If you are a victim of cyberbullying, you can report your problem here: https://www.stoppestennu.nl/online-pesten-social-media-risicos-en-gevaren-cybercrime or here: https: // www .meldknop.nl /

Warnings

• Do not take pictures or film of someone without them noticing and you have given permission to do so. It is prohibited by law to secretly photograph what someone is doing when they think they are not being seen by anyone.
• Never share photos or videos that could be offensive or insulting or that could be used against anyone in any way.