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The digital age has brought about new challenges for parents in preventing bullying. Cyberbullying, in particular, has become a growing concern as children spend more time online. In this article, we'll explore strategies for preventing digital bullying and how to keep your child safe in the digital age.
1. Open Communication: Talk openly with your child about their online activities and encourage them to report if they are being bullied in any way, including through social media, chat rooms, gaming platforms, direct messages, emails or texting.
2. Educate Your Child: Teach your child about the dangers of cyberbullying (including adults misrepresenting themselves as a peer to subversively connect with them) and how to block anyone who is bothering or scaring them. Emphasize how they should not share personal information like their contact information, address, school name or their schedule of activities with anyone they do not know.
3. Set Boundaries: Set boundaries on your child's internet usage and monitor their online activities.
4. Utilize Parental Controls: Use parental control software to filter out inappropriate content and limit your child's access to certain websites.
5. Encourage Responsible Behaviour: Teach your child that they should treat others online with empathy and respect, and not to engage in online bullying behaviour towards others, including adding negative comments on others’ social media posts.
6. Encourage Positive Relationships: Encourage your child to build positive relationships online with friends and peers.
7. Seek Support: Tell your child they can come to you for help if they are being bullied online, or in any other way. If you sense they may be ashamed to do so, let them know BullyingCanada is available to help them, 24/7/365.
Remember, the internet can be a wonderful resource for learning and socializing, but it's important to be aware of the risks and take steps to mitigate them.
