Cyberbullying

To begin with, and to put cyberbullying in its proper perspective, we must understand that our children’s online safety and ability to protect themselves goes way beyond cyberbullying.

There are all kinds of topics we have to decide how to speak to our children about, including some unpleasant ones that we may not want to discuss with them.

But if we don’t, they are going to learn about these subjects from their peers, Instagram or YouTube, for example, places that I think you would agree are not where you want your children getting certain parts of their education from.

As parents, our child’s safety in the digital space must be near the top of our priority list.

Whether we like it or not, this is their world, and they are going to be spending a lot of time in it during their formative years.

First of all, this means constant education for us as parents.

We recognise that this is a massive challenge, but it is one that we need to face if we are to keep our child safe.

One thing we can do is establish Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs).

These are usually provided by companies to employees to control things like social media use at work, but AUPs are also essential in the home, in particular to keep internet use in check.

Here are the six factors to consider when developing an AUP:

1. Collaboration: It’s essential that you and your child build the AUP together. This increases the likelihood of acceptance and compliance.
2. Commitment: Everyone must commit to the AUP; it must be applicable to the whole family, not just your child.
3. Flexibility: Acknowledge that the AUP is going to change. It isn’t set in stone and will be amended as platforms change, as technology moves on and, of course, as your child gets older.
4. Clarity: There must be no room for confusion. This prevents the ‘Oh, I didn’t think you meant that’ excuse when the rules are broken.
5. Transparency: Everyone must be open and honest about their internet use, and aware of the reasons for any parental control software that is installed.
6. Sanctions: There must be clear sanctions for breaking rules, and these must be imposed without exception; otherwise, there is no incentive to obey them. This is where a lot of AUPs fall down.

Your AUPs should include a ‘no devices in bedrooms at night’ rule and parental approval for all app down-loads (both Apple and Google have family account set-ups that enable this).

Beyond that, your child needs to be encouraged to think about what they are putting out through digital channels to ensure that their ‘digital tattoo’ is truly a reflection of the way they want people to see them.?

The idea of online reputation is something that can be introduced to children as young as ten; we must reinforce the idea that everything you put online, stays online.

Our children are believing the claims of ‘disappearing content’ and thinking they don’t have to worry about what they put out there because it’s temporary, but that’s simply not true.

Everything you put online leaves a trail, and in 99% of cases it stays online forever – even if you delete it or an app tells you that it’s gone after ten seconds.

This is why we call it a digital tattoo – it’s permanent and goes with you everywhere.