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Responding to Cyberbullying 
Tips on How to Respond to Cyberbullying
When a cyberbullying incident occurs, it is important that schools, teens and families work together to minimize the potentially devastating consequences for the targeted individual and the school community as a whole. Following are some ideas on prevention and intervention for administrators, educators, family members and students.
For Administrators and Educators:
Prevention
- Set clear school guidelines for Internet use
- Teach students about ethical and legal standards for online activities
- Update policies to include guidelines for Internet and cell phone use and consequences for cyberbullying and online cruelty
- Make reporting of cyberbullying and online hate incidents a requirement
- Establish confidential reporting mechanisms
- Devise supervision and monitoring practices of students’ Internet use on school computers
- Educate students about cyberbullying and discuss strategies for reacting to cyberbullying as targets and as bystanders
- Promote empathy, ethical decision-making skills and respect among students
- Increase awareness of Internet safety strategies among students and their families
Intervention
- Take action immediately when cyberbullying takes place
- Save the e-mail or other evidence
- Assess the nature and extent of the problem
- Determine appropriate consequences for the perpetrators in accordance with school policies
- Report extremely harmful online speech, such as harassment, stalking or threats of violence, to the police
- Discuss the incident and consequences with the perpetrators’ families to establish consistent expectations at home and in school
- Provide social skills education and counseling to perpetrators
- Inform school-based mental health professionals to assist the targets and the targets’ families in coping with the impact of the incident
For Family Members:
Prevention
- Talk to your child about Internet and cell phone safety
- Monitor the amount of time your child spends online
- Set up the computer in the family room or other room where you can supervise your child’s Internet use
- Purchase tracking software to block inappropriate Web content and check your child’s online activities
- Encourage your child to tell a parent or trusted adult about threatening or harassing messages
Intervention
- Save the evidence
- Protect your child from further bullying by blocking offending e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers
- Change your child’s phone number and e-mail address if necessary
- Report cyberbullying incidents to school authorities
- Report extremely harmful online speech to the police
- Report incidents and file complaints with e-mail services, Internet Service Providers, Web sites, cell phone companies, etc.
- Consider canceling services with providers who do not respond adequately to your concerns about safety or harassment
For Students:
- Ignore the bullying; don’t prolong it by engaging with the perpetrator or forwarding hateful messages to others
- Save the evidence to show to parents, school administrators and the police, if necessary
- Don’t feel shame; tell your parents or a trusted adult and report cyberbullying incidents to school authorities
- Protect yourself from further bullying by blocking offending e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers
- Change phone numbers, e-mail addresses and screen names if necessary
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