Clinical psychologist Dr Anna Colton looks at some of the common signs of cyberbullying and what can be done to help.
Changes in online use
Look out for changes in your child鈥檚 use of their smartphone, tablet or laptop. An overuse of these devices may indicate they are constantly tracking social media activity, whereas less frequent use could suggest they are worried about what they will find online.
Listen out for problems
Pay close attention to what topics your child is talking about. Any conversations about friendship difficulties or being teased online could be worth exploring further.
These concerns might not even be talked about directly, so listen out for hints or slight changes in behaviour.
Communication
Keep the conversation open and don鈥檛 be confrontational. Show them that you are not going to judge.
This way, your child is more likely to confide in you and open up to talking about bullying.
It鈥檚 also worth having a conversation with their teachers. They may have an inkling as to what is wrong at school and even if they haven鈥檛, they will be able to keep an eye out.
Monitoring social media
Monitoring your child鈥檚 social media use is really important, but can be difficult to constantly track. For this reason, it鈥檚 crucial to educate them about their online habits from an early age.
One of the simplest things you can do is to make sure they follow the age restrictions for signing up to social media sites and applications.
If the sites and apps are not age appropriate, they should not be using them 鈥 even if they argue that their friends are.
Checking devices
Have an agreement with your child about checking their device usage, whether this is their smartphone, tablet or laptop.
This doesn鈥檛 have to be every day; you don鈥檛 want this to be intrusive, but more a sense-check of what sites they鈥檙e visiting and who they鈥檙e communicating with.
A balanced approach will maintain trust, and you鈥檒l be keeping them safe whilst respecting their privacy.
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