Stopping a cyber bully is easier said than done, but it’s not impossible. The following are some tips for stopping a cyber bully.
Tip one: Know your rights
Many people don’t realize that they still have rights when they’re online. If you are being harassed, bullied, embarrassed or bothered online, you have the right to put a stop to it. Cyber bullying is a term used to describe bullying that occurs between two minors. If an adult is involved it is cyber harassment, not cyber bullying. If you are being threatened or abused, you have the right to call the police and ask for their assistance.
Tip two: Know the way cyber bullies work
Many cyber bullies get others to help them attack their target. This means that a whole group of kids from your school could be online bugging you, making fun of you and generally harassing you. Cyber bullies thrive on anonymity, which means that if you can determine who they are, their power over you is greatly reduced. Cyber bullies might follow you around the internet, use the same chat rooms you use, post to your social networking sites and send you inappropriate text messages, among other things. Knowing that they can follow you and being aware of the ways they can harass you will enable you to put a stop to them.
Tip three: Block them
A cyber bully can only bother you if they can reach you. Make it more difficult for them to reach you by setting filters in your mail to high, so that their messages go to your junk mailbox. Block them on personal chat systems. Remove them as a friend from your social networking sites and set your blogs and other sites to private so that they can’t comment. In addition, if they bother you on a public site, notify the site administrator to have them removed or blocked.
Tip four: Get help
If you are being bullied on the internet, through texts, emails, chat rooms or in any other manner, that you inform an adult, a teacher, a parent or someone that can help you to effectively deal with, and put a stop to, the bully. Bullying is a real problem, and doing whatever you can to stop it is worthwhile. If you go to the police for help, take copies of threats and bullying. Indicate the dates, frequency and places where the bullying took place. The more information you present them with, the stronger your case and the higher the chances are that the perpetrator can be caught and dealt with.
No one has to be a victim to cyber bullying. If you feel like you are being bullied electronically, don’t ignore it. Fight back, not by bullying in return, but by making it difficult for them to bully you! The harder it is for them, the less likely they will be to do it.
