5 Tips on Handling Online Cyber Bullying
I have been asked how to address cyber bullying recently. It seems to be growing as fast as building AI.
Next month I will be talking about this topic at a workshop for future aspiring women. These will include Members of Parliament, through to Chief Executives and Business Owners who are looking to develop their political skills. More on this next month.
There seems to be a plethora of information on child/teenage online bullying. These sites are a great reference of resource to tap into.
In the USA more than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyber threats according to bullying statistics organisation.
BBC UK reported almost half of 1,089 11 to 25 year olds experienced threatening or nasty messages via social media, email or texts. You can read further information here on the BBC technology report.
Online bullying comes in various forms and can affect people in different ways. There are many real life stories on how people have experienced mental health issues through this medium. Unfortunately, these incidents are only the ones that we hear about, there are more real life stories out there. Victims receive personal messages of harassment, hate or, perpetrators degrade them using social media channels.
Unfortunately, there are not as many online references for adult online trolling or harassment.
It is time leaders at work places review what staff are doing to fuel this. In some cases colleagues set up WhatsApp groups and defame others in a clique and bosses may not be aware of this behaviour.
It is no different to offline bullying and it needs to stop immediately.
Top 5 tips
Take on board the following top 5 tips if you or your staff are experiencing cyber bullying:
- make sure others know about it – your family, close friends, colleagues etc
- take screenshots of the offensive posts
- report it to the social networks
- don’t respond to the perpetrator
- find free resources such as the National Helpline
In the near future we will be discussing how to deal with unwanted online comments. These will include posts on professional social media sites, trolling and the emotional responses that can exacerbate situations. If you want to join in the discussion or take part in the next blog email us