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Stopping a Cyber Bully 101

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Cyber bullies have become commonplace on the internet these days, and, as a result, not everyone feels safe when they are online. If you are dealing with a cyber bully, it’s time to take steps to stop them.

Know your rights

In order to stop a cyber bully you first have to know your rights. It is your right not to be threatened and harassed, and if someone is doing so, even if it is with the anonymity that the web provides, you have the right to have it stopped.

Know the way cyber bullies work

Cyber bullies often harass their victims on chat rooms and through social networking sites. They will typically follow you around the internet and bother you no matter where you are. They may also enlist others in their attempts to harass or embarrass you. Knowing what cyber bullying is, and how it happens, gives you the power not only to recognize it, but to avoid it. You can only stop cyber bullying if you know what it is.

Report them

Reporting a cyber bully in a great 1st step for dealing with, and ultimately stopping, one. If the bullying is taking place while you are on a public site, report the behavior to the site administrator. In addition, if you are at school, or on a private network, notify the school, or network provider, of the problem is occurring. If the bullying is severe, threats are specific or if there are multiple incidences, report the person to the police. Many police departments now have entire units that do nothing but investigating cyber bullying. Remember that cyber bullying is defined as bullying that takes place electronically between minors. If an adult is involved it becomes a much more serious charge.

Block them

If a cyber bully is harassing you, the best thing you can do is to block them. If you are on a public chat site, where you can’t block them, see if the site administrator would be willing to block or remove them. If you are on a site where you can block them, block them. For example, if they are bothering you on your Facebook page, simply delete them as a friend, make your page private so that people can’t send you messages or view your profile, and add the person to your block list.

Get help

If you are being cyber bullied, it is up to you to get help. Tell a parent or a teacher. Tell someone so that the problem can be attended to, and you can get help dealing with the psychological effects of being bullied. It can be extremely helpful to have an adult on your side, especially if the bullying is not singular in nature, but is a group effort at humiliation or threats.

You must take action to stop a cyber bully, and let them know that you are not going to put up with it. If you threaten to report them to the police, follow through.