Cyberbullying part 2
Tuesday 20 November 2007
Cyberbullying is bullying on line or through the use of mobile phones. In the last of our two part series we answer your questions on how to deal with it.
Report it?
Your comment: “If a young person reports cyber bullying on a site like Bebo can the author of the page tell who has reported the bullying?”
Bebo or any other social networking site will not pass on your details to any third parties; therefore there is no way of a cyberbully knowing you have reported them. However if you are still worried you can report them anonymously or get your parent to do so.
Cyberfoot prints
Your comment: “If they have the skills cyberbullies can make sure you don’t leave any trace!”
No matter how careful the bully is to cover their tracks, there is no hiding in cyberspace; the police can track digital fingerprints down to an individual computer or mobile phone.
Organisations such as BullyingUK can actually take steps to close down abusive websites and internet forums. In the past they have also passed on details of any abuse reported by young people to the police.
For example if you are named on an internet chat room or forum in a manner which constitutes bullying, reporting this to the website can actually get the people naming you removed as users. Even if they are using false names, the company that hosts the website can still track down their computer. You can’t have access to this information but the police can!
Blocking it
Your comment: “There are IGNORE buttons nowadays you know”
Your comment: “You don’t need to tell a parent really, if people you dont know, or you will never meet do it, u can just block them off instant messenger, and they shouldn’t know your phone number anyway! But if you meet them on a regular basis, then you should tell some one!”
IM is just one medium through which you can be cyberbullied. Bullies may sometimes work through various different media. However, if you are getting abusive instant messages, there are a number of steps you can take
- As soon as any comments start block that user so that they cannot contact you, at least via that IM provider. Don’t retaliate – that is just what the bully wants.
- Set the archive conversation feature to on. This is more effective as evidence than conversations that are copied and pasted, and will be helpful if you report this to the service provider.
- Be careful who you add as a friend – only add people you know – and be careful what personal information you have in the public domain (ie in a profile) which might enable people to contact you.
- If it gets really bad change your IM address then try to add only friends you know well
- If you get loads of offensive comments print them out and make a complaint to the police
Bad call
Cyberbullying via mobile phone can include abusive messages or texts or silent calls. There are also examples when text messages have been sent through websites using other people’s names and phone numbers, who are then blamed for it!
Avoid abusive calls by only answering calls from numbers you know. Genuine callers will eventually leave a message or send a text. Also be aware that a genuine caller will speak first. A malicious caller will probably hang up.
Dealing with it
Your comment: “Its no good saying 'contact a teacher, older person, or police officer' (if you can find one) because none of them will have a clue what to do about it. There needs to be a site and/or helpline which contains the links and ISP details plus instructions so you know where and how to put a stop to the messages.”
A police officer will be able to enforce the law around cyberbullying and a teacher or parent can also help you get in touch with the authorities so that something can be done about it. All s chools have anti-bullying policies and should be able to help. Contacting the service provider, such as the mobile operator or the Instant messenger or social network provider to report what has happened can be a useful step.
The law
Cyberbullying can constitutes harassment and is illegal under the 1997 Harassment Act. Also making anonymous or abusive phone calls is a criminal offence under the Telecommunications Act 1984.
If you want to get more information about cyberbullying, take a look at the Laugh at it, and you're part of it campaign page and let n2k know what you think about the issue.
