10 Smart Ways To Handle Cyberbullies
10 Smart Ways To Handle Cyberbullies. If you experience any form of abuse that takes place over digital devices then you are cyber bullied. Cyberbullies conduct their activity through social media, forums, threads, and SMS. The following ways can help you deal with them and enjoy your devices in peace.
1. Ignore The Bully
If you are a victim of cyberbullying, try by all means to not respond to minor teasing or name calling. Sometimes bullies are simply seeking attention waiting for someone to react negatively to something they post. If you ignore them, they eventually go away.
2. Don’t Retaliate
You can’t fight fire with fire. Getting back at a bully turns you into one. This can also turn one mean act into a chain reaction. If you can, remove yourself from the situation. If you can’t, sometimes humor disarms or distracts a person from bullying.
3. Tell The Person To Stop
Some people take advantage of one’s silence and do as they wish. In some situations you have to make your position completely clear that you will not stand for this treatment any more. You may need to practice beforehand with someone you trust, like a parent or good friend.
4. Keep Evidence
It is easy to prove that you are being bullied. Take screenshots of any cyberbullying messages you receive. If you can show these messages to a trusted person like a family member, it may be easier to show who the bully was if they bully you on multiple accounts.
5. Reach Out to Someone
Talk to an adult you trust as soon as you realize there is a problem. You can even seek help from police officers because they have experience in handling these kind of problems. It’s also helpful to talk to friends or a counsellor so you can get their support when you are feeling upset by hurtful comments.
6. Cut Off The Bully
Stop all communication with the bully when possible. You can block their phone number so you no longer receive their calls or texts. Mobile apps and social media platforms also allow you to block users so that they can no longer interact with you. If it’s not possible to block them, you can screen their calls and delete their messages without opening them.
7. Go High-Tech
If you’re being bullied via a website, chances are that the bully is going against the website’s terms of use. Reporting bullies to the website administrator may get them kicked off the site. In many cases, the providers can look into the bullying incident to uncover an anonymous bully and may also be able to take down offensive posts.
8. Upgrade Privacy
A good way to prevent cyberbullying is to be vigilant about privacy and take steps to protect yourself. Think of social media networks and apps as a wall in a bathroom stall that people scrawl things all over. Once you post personal details of your life online, they become material for anyone looking to target you.
9. Leave The Group or Conversation
This is one of the best ways to ignore a bully. If the person is picking on you in a group chat, and no one is doing something about it, you might find that you don’t belong in that group. If their picking on you in your personal space, leave the conversation altogether.
10. Protect Your Accounts
Don’t share your passwords with anyone. This includes your family and closest friends, who may not be close forever. Another important thing is to password-protect your phone so no one can use it to impersonate you.
