What do I do if my child is experiencing cyberbullying?

Although technology allows bullies to target their victims anonymously, there are a number of steps that victims and their families can take:

Advise your child to ignore the message. Do not ignore the problem.
- Don't respond to the message.¹
- Save the evidence.
- Tell a trusted adult.
- Don't forward it.²
- Show kids how to block cyberbullies and to delete messages without reading them.
- Never encourage your children to seek revenge and further escalate the cyberbullying problem.
- Remind kids to keep their passwords secret.
- Assure kids that cyberbullying is never their fault.
Consider setting up new email, IM, gaming, or cell phone accounts and only share the new contact information with trusted friends.¹
When cyberbullying occurs in the context of online gaming:²
- For this kind of cyberbullying, parents should teach kids to ignore "griefers," block or ban them, take a break from the game to calm down, and, if necessary, set up new gaming accounts.
- Parents should also monitor their child's gaming and consider disabling voice chat if they are concerned their child is being bullied or is bullying other gamers.

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