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- Understanding Cyberbullying: Crucial Tips for Protecting Your Kids
In this article
The last words any parent wants to utter, “I had no idea this was happening. . .”, yet with cyberbullying, they are all too common. Unlike a decade ago, when home served as a safe haven from school bullies, today’s digital world allows harassment to follow children everywhere. The pervasive nature of social media, messaging apps, and online gaming means that bullying can occur 24/7, making it harder for parents to detect and address.
Knowing How to Spot the Dangers
What are the dangers, threats, and channels through which cyberbullying occurs? As parents, it is crucial to understand and address these issues. Recognizing cyberbullying, identifying warning signs, fostering open communication, and implementing effective strategies are essential steps to ensure your child’s safety and well-being both online and offline.
The Stats are Alarming
- Only 1 in 10 teen victims will inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse.
- 60% of young people have witnessed online bullying. Most do not intervene.
- Social Media companies such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook do little or nothing to help prevent cyberbullying and do even less to empower parents to monitor their child’s account.
- 95% of teens in the U.S. are online, and the vast majority access the internet on their smartphone, making it the most common medium for cyberbullying.
- 41% of people who have received physical threats on social media say the platform did not respond or take action.
- 51% of cyberbullying in schools is done by the victims’ classmates. 30% were children that the victim did not know.
It may feel as though cyberbullying is not a matter of if, but when it will occur. Given this reality, parents must be proactive in taking steps to protect their children. This involves educating them about online safety, maintaining open lines of communication, monitoring their digital activities, and fostering a supportive environment where they feel comfortable reporting any issues.
By implementing these measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of cyberbullying and help your children navigate the digital world more safely.
How to Respond to Cyberbullies
When something like this happens the best thing your child can do is screenshot the messages, identify who is talking to your child, block them immediately, and don’t respond. It’s not worth the mental toll cyberbullies can add by responding to them. Teach your child to block the cyberbully as soon as they realize what they are doing, and notify you or another trusted adult.
If Your Child is Being Cyberbullied
If you discover that your child is being cyberbullied, it can feel as though your entire world is under attack. The need to restore the safety for your child can be a difficult road to walk, but there are certain steps you can take to quickly get a handle on the situation and stop the cyberbullying once and for all.
1 – Avoid Escalating the Situation
Responding with hostility is likely to provoke a bully and escalate the situation. Depending on the circumstances, consider ignoring the issue. Often, bullies thrive on the reaction of their victims. Other options include subtle actions. For example, your child may be able to block the messages on social networking sites or stop unwanted emails by changing the email address. If they continue to get messages at the new email address, you may have a stronger case for legal action.
2 – Document the Activity
Keep a record of any online activity (emails, web pages, instant messages, etc.), including relevant dates and times. In addition to archiving an electronic version, consider printing a copy.
3 – Report Cyberbullying to the Appropriate Authorities
If your child is being harassed or threatened, report the activity. Many schools have instituted anti-bullying programs, so school officials may have established policies for dealing with activity that involves students. If necessary, contact your local law enforcement. Law enforcement agencies have different policies, but your local police department or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) branch are good starting points.
If your child is experiencing suicidal ideation, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 for support and assistance from a trained counselor.
If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
Stay Informed, Engaged and Vigilant
Despite the alarming statistics, there is hope in protecting your family from cyberbullying. By taking proactive steps and leveraging available resources, you can create a safer online environment for their children. The key is to stay informed, engaged, and vigilant.
Communicate with your children
One of the most effective ways to protect your children is to foster open communication. Encourage your kids to share their online experiences, both positive and negative, and assure them that they can come to you without fear of judgment or punishment. Building a foundation of trust will make it easier for them to report any instances of cyberbullying. Additionally, educating your children about the importance of digital citizenship and the impact of their online actions can help them navigate the internet responsibly.
Utilize good technology
You can also utilize technology to their advantage. Many tools and apps are available that allow for monitoring of your child’s online activity, setting limits on screen time, and filtering inappropriate content. While it’s important to respect your child’s privacy, finding a balance between oversight and independence is crucial. Implementing parental controls and regularly reviewing privacy settings on social media platforms can significantly reduce the risk of exposure to cyberbullying.
Engage with your community efforts
Schools and communities play a vital role in combating cyberbullying as well. Advocate for comprehensive anti-bullying policies and programs within your child’s school, and engage with other parents to create a supportive network. Many schools offer resources such as counseling and workshops that can help both parents and students understand the dynamics of cyberbullying and develop effective coping strategies.
While cyberbullying is a pervasive issue, you have the power to protect your children through education, open communication, and the use of monitoring tools. By staying involved and proactive, you can create a safer online environment and offer your children the support they need to navigate the digital world with confidence.
Getting Expert Help to Safeguard Your Family
Creating an online safety plan for your family, setting up effective parental controls, and combating cyberbullying can be more challenging and take more time than you’d like. iDefend makes it easier than ever for parents to cultivate healthy digital habits in the home and protect kids against all types of cyber risks, including cyberbullying.
Our team of advisors work with you to create a personalized protection plan for your family’s unique needs. Expert guidance, practical tips, and monitoring solutions empower you to take control of your family’s online safety and healthy balance with technology. We’re the experts so you don’t have to be.
Learn more and get protected today with iDefend. Try it risk free and save 30%.
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- The Dangers of TikTok Trends
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Tiktok is a media source phenomena to put it lightly. When it was released back in 2016, within a few months the app had over 100 million active users, all watching videos that were a minute or less. This is unprecedented, and the following years have seen this app explode in popularity.
In January of 2023, for example, it had a staggering 104 Million App Downloads. That’s more than 3.3 Million downloads a day. Teens and adults alike can post videos in a matter of minutes for all the world to see, all with the hopes of going viral.
How TikTok Works
Tiktok works by having the user watch videos. The more that you watch a video the more the creator makes while Tiktok generates avenues through ads and selling your data (but that’s another topic for another time.) When someone creates a video, Tiktok releases the video to a small audience to see if the video gets a number of hits, or reactions. Once it meets the requirements, the algorithm then releases it to a bigger audience and so on until a viral effect is reached.
And anyone 13 or over can create videos to be uploaded on Tiktok, giving them hope to one day go viral and be popular among the community. These trends can be a dance, some kind of physical challenge, or mouthing the words to movie lines. With that, there have been some dangerous trends that have reached a viral effect and encouraged others to participate in the hopes that they will go viral as well.
Recent and Past Viral Trends
Below are some of the viral Tiktok trends in the past few years.
The Benadryl Challenge
The Benadryl Challenge saw teens and adults trying to take an excessive amount of benadryl in order to cause themselves to hallucinate. Unfortunately, it caused multiple hospital cases and even the death of a 15 year old girl.
“Benadryl in large doses can cause seizures and cardiac arrests. If young people are being encouraged to take it in large doses on TikTok, this is very dangerous.” David Juurlink, MD, of University of Toronto in Canada said.
The Penny Challenge
The Penny Challenge had teens partially unplug a charge port for an iphone and then stick a penny between the two prongs. This would then create a huge spark that would leave a scourge mark around the outlet and wall. Sometimes doing so would cause house fires, but nearly every time, at the very least, it caused damages.
The Sleeping Chicken Challenge
The Sleeping Chicken Challenge was where a man uploaded himself cooking his chicken with an entire bottle of Nyquil. The heat would dissolve most of the liquid, giving you a very concentrated amount of Nyquil to ingest. The man was then shown eating the chicken he had prepared and the trend shot to millions of views in a matter of hours.
Blackout Challenge
The most recent trend was the “Blackout Challenge” where teens filmed themselves holding their breath or having another squeeze their neck until they lost consciousness. This dangerous trend resulted in multiple deaths including a 10-year-old girl who died in the US December of 2022 after reportedly attempting the challenge.
TikTok Doesn’t Care About Kid’s Safety
Each of these trends happened within the last two years, and the scariest part is that Tiktok did nothing to take down or stop the videos. Once the videos get a certain number of hits, Tiktok will, in fact, send the video out to more people to get more views and generate more revenue for them. The more views these videos get, the more money Tiktok makes. They, in no way, care about the safety of your kids.
There was another video that went viral where a New Jersey teenage girl was getting beat up by her peers outside of her classroom. The bullies then posted the video on Tiktok and ended up getting millions of views in a day. The bullied teen saw how many had seen it, and after the bullies continued to harass her over her phone, she ended up committing suicide. She was only 14 years old.
Social Media Has a Dangerous Side
Social Media does little to protect minors in the world today. As long as they can make an easy dollar, they will allow nearly anything to be posted. With that, Tiktok also has a flood of “soft” pornography that creators post to lead you to their Only Fans accounts. By clicking a link, you can see their Instagram, Twitter, and Only Fans, giving your teen easy access to pornography. Twitter also allows fully nude photos to be posted, and is used as a way to convince viewers to purchase their Only Fans subscription.
Tiktok is a gateway to a world of information and fun, but it can come at a great cost. You will have zero control over what your teen watches and views as anything can come up as a recommended video. Be mindful of the trends, and if you decide for your teen to have a Tiktok, be sure to have rules and guidelines while they are online. To have them participate in these trends can not only cause permanent harm to their bodies, but may also result in death.
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- Sextortion: A Parent’s Worst Nightmare Coming Soon to a Smartphone Near You
In this article
Predators and scammers will text your teen to try to develop a relationship by sending flirtatious and fun texts. They will say anything to help develop a relationship and connection all to set the trap.
The moment your child takes and sends the explicit pictures, it is far too late, the trap has been sprung and the scammer is prepared to take full advantage.
Panic is the Natural Response
Your child starts to panic. The person they trusted is suddenly threatening to release the pictures on your child’s social media. The person pulls names of friends and family members saying that they will personally message them the pictures and show them what they’ve done. Sometimes going so far to locate your child’s school threatening to post there to all of your peers, but then they’ll give your teen a way out.
If your child pays $500, then nothing will happen. No pics will be sent, and all of this can go away. The stress that your child is feeling is overwhelming, there’s a way out, but $500 is a lot of money. Thoughts of hopelessness, fear, anxiety and depression creep in as they’ve locked themselves in a corner with no way out and zero relief on the horizon.
Sextortion is Humiliating
To open up about it to a parent can be humiliating, and other thoughts of ways out can start to creep in. Teens that reported sextortion cases found that 1 in 3 teens had engaged in self-harm, threatened suicide or attempted suicide as a result of the sextortion.
It’s difficult when teenagers are constantly searching for gratification and acceptance. With that, hormones can play a major part and cloud judgment. They are learning all the new and exciting things becoming an adult holds, and to explore all of that is a thrilling adventure, but such choices can have major consequences that can affect years to come.
Sextortion is Avoidable
The sad part is that sextortion is 100% avoidable. With social media, your teen can instantly connect with anyone they would like, not knowing if they are real or fake. Everyday millions of messages are sent out to strangers to try to connect with them for a multitude of reasons, and predators will always search for a way in.
What you can do as a parent
So what can you do to ensure that your child never falls victim to this trap? Firstly, be sure to have open conversations with them about these kinds of threats. Educate yourself and them on the dangers of the world, and what people will do to take advantage. Recommend to them that they never message and text strangers they don’t know.
Most of all, especially with people they know, never send out explicit messages, pictures, or videos. Nothing good will ever come of that, and there are also legal actions that can be taken against your child for sending such pictures.
How and When Does it Happen?
Sextortion most commonly occurred via phone/tablet messaging apps, social networking sites and video chats. 56% of reports indicated that only one messenger platform was involved, yet 42% used multiple platforms. The offender would intentionally and systematically move the communication with the teen from one platform to another such as Facebook, Snapchat and text messages.
When your child sends the pictures or videos, 80% of predators will threaten blackmail on the same day. However, 20% of the reported cases indicated prolonged waiting periods before any threats of blackmail were made with the acquired content. In some cases, years later. With such blackmail and payouts victims lost more than $13.6 million in the 18,000 sextortion-related complaints in 2021.
Warning Signs & Predator Tactics
Those who your teen is talking to are rarely who they claim to be. Keep in mind that the teenage girl they believe they are speaking to may very well be a middle aged man. There are certain tactics to keep in mind that the predator may use such as:
- Reciprocation, the offender promises to provide sexual content in return for your child providing the same. “I’ll show you, if you show me.”
- Developing a bond by establishing a friendship/romantic relationship.
- Secretly recording sexually explicit videos of the child during video chats.
- Physically threatening to hurt or sexually assault the child or family members.
- Using multiple online identities against a given child, such as the person blackmailing for sexual content as well as pretending to be a supportive friend or a sympathetic victim of the same offender.
- Pretending to be younger and/or a female.
- Threatening to commit suicide if the child does not provide sexual content.
- Creating a fake profile as the child and threatening to post sexual content of the child.
- Saving sexually explicit conversations with the child and threatening to post them online.
There is Hope
You and your family never need to become a victim of sextortion. Take the steps necessary and educate your child on the threats that exist around them. The online presence of predators and bullies are very real, but as we take the proper steps to prepare and protect our children, we can have peace of mind when facing the dangers of the world.
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- How Reliable Are Video Game Ratings?
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Much like movies, before publishing, each video game is reviewed and assigned a content rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). You can use this as a quick tip-off to any offensive or questionable content a game may contain before buying it.
Where Are the Ratings?
It’s usually displayed as a large letter on the front or back cover of a physical game, and will be listed on the main page when purchasing a game online or via the console itself. Unlike movie ratings tucked away on the case, a game’s rating is often displayed prominently on the front cover.
There’s a content overview as well
Not only is the letter rating displayed, but next to this will be a snapshot of the game’s content. It’s typically listed as a handful of items such as: “Mild language,” “Suggestive themes,” “Cartoon violence,” etc. These will tell you what kind of things someone can expect when playing the game.
Rating: E
Rated for everyone
E-rated games have very little to no violence. If there is violence, it’s usually in the form of cartoon, fantasy, or mild violence. Also can include very light/mild language.
This rating is going to be the most common on games geared toward families and kids, and as such is also one of the broadest categories.
Multiplayer and online capabilities
Many of these games will include online or local multiplayer options. When playing online, most modern games don’t allow voice chat and instead will limit any text-based chatting to preset words, phrases, or emotes (character performing a recognizable action such as “dance” or “wave”).
Additional billing and charges
Even E-rated games can contain additional purchases, downloadable content, and even unlockable items via real money. Often, this will mean the game stores a credit card on it, and if you’re not careful it can quickly rack up charges.
Another common option is virtual or in-game currency which can be purchased with real money. This is a safer option since it typically doesn’t store a credit card on file, but instead will take online codes or redeeming gift cards in order to load the balance.
Rating: E10+
Rated for everyone ages ten and up
Similar to the E-rated games above, these are more aimed toward families as well as slightly older children and pre-teens. Games in this category will likely contain a little more violence, language, and suggestive themes, but will still refrain from anything gory or explicit.
Multiplayer and online capabilities
It’s not uncommon for games at this level to include online gaming and interactions, though the text will still be filtered similarly to those rated E.
Additional billing and charges
Just like E games, many E10+ ones will have additional content that can be purchased with real money. As above, keep an eye on where your card needs to be entered and if the game supports virtual currency.
Rating: T
Rated for teens ages thirteen and up
At some point, most kids will move on from E-rated games and crave something a little more mature. This is where the Teen rating comes into play. Games in this category will have stronger language, more violence, and sensuality potentially tipping into light sexual themes.
Multiplayer and online capabilities
Games in the T category with online capabilities typically have nearly-unmoderated chat lobbies including options for both text and voice chatting.
It’s also worth noting that many adults play these games as well, meaning that children and teens can converse freely with adults during gameplay. This is a common place for online predators to begin grooming as well as cyberbullying to occur.
Additional billing and charges
A lot of the popular T-rated games are filled with extra purchases, cosmetics (things that change visuals but don’t influence gameplay), and a slew of other things to spend money on.
Be sure you understand and check that your card isn’t saved on file to allow your kids to freely rack up a huge bill.
Rating: M
Rated for Mature audiences ages 17 and up
Potentially the largest and widest category of games in our list are for ones rated M. Like the name implies, this rating is for mature themes, mature language, and often mature sexual content.
That being said, the actual content can vary wildly from game to game, so it’s recommended you also pay attention to the content warnings next to the rating. Titles in this range can be rated M simply for high levels of violence but have absolutely no sexual content.
On the flip side, a game may simulate or even encourage sexual acts, portray nudity, and contain explicit language.
It’s always recommended that you do your research about a game in this category before buying it for a teen.
Multiplayer and online capabilities
Surprisingly, many of the games in this category do not offer online play but are instead intended as single-player games. Those with online multiplayer, however, will almost always have text and voice chatting.
Unfortunately, there’s not a strict standard for filtering or moderating any of these chats, so if you’re a concerned parent, check out our video game safety features included in iDefend.
Additional billing and charges
As with the other categories, these games often include additional purchases.
It’s worth noting for most of the single-player games, however, that the bulk of purchasable content is actually further expansions or modules for the same game, expanding gameplay and the storyline rather than simply throwing money at cosmetic items.
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