A few years back in 2007 a young girl named Megan was surfing the internet like many teenagers do. She had social media accounts and was seeking attention via Myspace. She had been suffering from depression for some time. She had found peace with a friend online that told her that she was pretty among other things. During a period of around 5 weeks the teenager was feeling pretty good with herself thanks to her online friend, but she was not ready nor had the support needed to hear the heartless words that her online boy friend wrote to her. Her family was not aware of her online troubles and little did they know of what would happen next. Her online friend out of the blue told her "The world would be a better place with out you". Those words along with other peoples comments at her Myspace feed cause her to take her own life. She was found hanged and alone in her bedroom closet by her mom. Cyber bullying is the most dangerous kind of bullying. It often happens when you are alone and mentally most vulnerable. People pour their feelings online for others to find and provide assistance, but instead they can find truly ill people that will only destroy their lives. Later after Megan's death, it was know that her cyber aggressor was not a boy friend of hers, but a girl that wanted to psychologically harass and harm her. This triggered a series of events that led to the creation of foundations and self help groups. Laws are already in place to punish cyber bullies and help the victims families. Yet this is not enough. Cyber bullying happens behind close doors and online. It might never be identified until it is too late.
Here is a list of steps to take to prevent and identify cyber bullying.
-Identify signs of depression.
-Keep communication open with your child.
-Monitor their online activity. This can be done by checking their online history or simply check over their shoulder.
-Friend or add your children at their social media sites of choice. This will help with the monitoring and keeping records of any bullying activity.
-If you have identified a cyber bully try to contact their parents if possible to address the problem at the root. This will help other people to not fall prey to the bully.
-File a complain to the website. These can often be found in the shape of "Report inappropriate content" links.
-Talk to your children about blocking others from their social media sites. Let them know that there are ways to deal with online bullies.
-Lastly, if threats to their life have been made then contact the police. Cyber bullying is a crime at some states.
Source: http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/
