How to prevent and respond to cyber bullying?

We are all surrounded by cyber bullying. Some it affects more, others less. It can take various forms, ranging from the so-called shooting games, ending with sexting. Sometimes we don't even realize that we have become its victims.

It affects both adults and children who receive telephones and computers at an increasingly younger age. All of this is leading to more and more cyberbullying, so learn to counter it.

What is cyberbullying?

In the simplest terms, cyberbullying can be defined as all negative actions effected by the Internet, aimed at another person. The persecutor uses various possibilities to blackmail the victim, writes negative comments about him, publishes ridiculous pictures without his consent, and performs many other activities aimed at psychological abuse or, for example, extorting money. Cybercriminals love to make their victim's life difficult, often using publicly available social media to humiliate and ridicule the person as much as possible. Cyberbullying can affect people you don't know completely, but you can also experience this form of violence from a loved one, for example during an ongoing divorce case.

What makes aggressors so active?

It is said that nothing is lost on the Internet. Cyber ‹‹criminals generally think they are completely anonymous, but this is not entirely true. Their guesses that no one can find out who they really are leads to frequent attacks and alleged impunity. The more people have electronic equipment, the more active cybercriminals are. The more we operate over the Internet, the more vulnerable we are to their attacks. Cybercriminals can operate silently, gathering as much information as possible about their victim and suddenly attacking from behind. Thus, the victim has nowhere to hide and remains completely defenseless.

What forms does cyberbullying take?

The most popular forms of cyberbullying include:

• articaling ridiculing or degrading videos and photos to the network - these resources are most often used by people who establish a trusted relationship over the Internet and ask for nude photos or an erotic video conversation. Most often, cybercriminals use the material to force payment. If it is not paid, the photos or video go to the Internet. Sometimes this form of cyberbullying is perpetrated by relatives, e.g. a former spouse,
• Writing offensive articals and comments - this type of activity by cybercriminals can be noticed in many online forums or in social media,
• Hacking into social profiles - many people with Facebook profiles were victims of cybercriminals impersonating their loved ones. Then, most often there are requests for financial help or sending suspicious links,
• Harassment via SMS, telephone or e-mail - cybercriminals, having the e-mail address or telephone number of the victim, very often send humiliating or ridiculous messages. In this case, there is also often financial blackmail,
• Impersonating familiar people - this type of practice is most often visible on social media,
• Hate - one of the most popular and least threatening forms of violence, focusing on adding an offensive comment, picture or video. If hate is directed at a person with low self-esteem, then it is a great threat and a psychological burden for them,
• Sexting - this involves sending half-naked photos or videos. Most often it concerns teenagers experiencing their first love. Often photos and videos are saved and used for sexual or financial blackmail.

Who is particularly at risk of cyberbullying?

Of course, the most vulnerable to cyberbullying are children who are in many cases not able to realize the consequences of sending, for example, half-naked photos. There are many examples on the Internet when a child with low self-esteem starts a relationship with someone on the other side of the screen and begins to be blackmailed. Often, establishing a trusted relationship is key to the blackmailer obtaining half-naked or nude photos of a minor whom he may start blackmailing for money in exchange for not making the photos or recordings public.

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Such situations often apply to teenagers who, in their love phase, do things to prove their love. Here, too, sending photos or videos with an erotic color is on the agenda. Later, the "love" ends and the revenge photos or videos are made public.

How to respond to cyberbullying?

People who have experienced cyberbullying should, above all, be supported to prevent depression or suicide. Long conversations, personal support, and attention are often enough to make a person feel mentally stronger. And except that:

• All evidence of cyberbullying should be collected,
• If unwanted photos or videos have been made public, please contact the website administrator to remove them from the Internet. Usually, this procedure takes place via a special form,
• If you know who the perpetrator is, you can try to talk to this person or their relatives and request that this content be removed from the Internet,
• If it does not help, then if it is a minor, the school and the teacher should be informed about the situation,
• However, if there has been a crime, the police should also be informed,
• You should not stay in touch with the cybercriminal and not react to his harassment.

How can you protect your child from cyberbullying?

There are many examples of cyberbullying on the Internet, so you should protect your child from this phenomenon by following the tips below:

• A child should be brought up in a relationship based on trust from an early age. This helps to develop very good communication, so if something in the child's life starts to function incorrectly, he will not be afraid to come to the parent with a problem,
• you should be interested in the child's life, not only at home, but also at school,
• The child will certainly play various games over the Internet, and will also communicate with many people via a smartphone. It is good if the parent will be able to find out who his child is writing with, what games they play, etc. in a natural way, similar to a conversation between friends,
• If the child's only interest is the will to play on a computer or telephone, then it is worth involving them in extracurricular activities. The more time a child is filled with creative activities, the less "stupid" ideas he will come up with,
• If there are no classes at your child's school that would protect them against cyberbullying by naming the problem and familiarizing the child with it, it is worth talking to the tutor or school head to introduce such topics. Cyberbullying at school should not be a taboo subject. It is also worth discussing the subject of netiquette, i.e. good behavior on the Internet, in order to teach children the right habits from an early age,
• It is also worth using technical prophylaxis, i.e. blocking content unsuitable for children,
• Establish rules for using the Internet.

The Effects of Cyberbullying - Examples

The most common consequences of experiencing cyberbullying are:

• Drop in self-esteem,
• lack of self-esteem,
• Depression,
• Anxiety,
• Communication disorders,
• Helplessness,
• Psychosomatic disorders,
• Emotional disorders,
• Withdrawal,
• Depression,
• Irritability,
• Aggression,
• In serious cases, even suicide.

Human personal rights, such as, in particular, health, freedom, honor, freedom of conscience, name or pseudonym, image, secret of correspondence, inviolability of the home, scientific, artistic, inventive and rationalizing creativity, remain under the protection of civil law, regardless of the protection provided for in other regulations.

Anyone whose personal interest is threatened by someone else's action may demand that this action be discontinued, unless it is not unlawful. In the event of an infringement, he may also require the person who committed the infringement to perform the actions necessary to remove its effects, in particular to submit a declaration of appropriate content and in an appropriate form.