Smart Safety: Data and Statistics on Cyberbullying

Many thanks to Kidas for this information and the tips below.

• 73% of players in the U.S had their online multiplayer game experience shaped by harassment in some way
• 53% of online multiplayer gamers who experience harassment believe they were targeted because of their race/ethnicity, religion, ability, gender or sexual orientation.

Gaming can be a fun, safe and positive environment for all. Parents can help prevent cyberbullying of their children who play video games by:

• Playing the game with your child or observing the game to understand how it works and what a child is exposed to in the game.
• Check in periodically with your child about who is online, playing the game with them.
• Knowing which gaming communities, social media, and apps your child uses while gaming and their security risks, which you can research online.
• Helping your child set the privacy and security settings for their games and apps.
• Teaching children about safe digital behavior, including not clicking on links from strangers;
• not downloading bots (software for automated tasks) or clicking on links in gaming forums;
• Establishing rules about how much time a child can spend playing video games.
• Keeping an open line of communication about your child’s digital life.
• There are things that gamers can do if they are experiencing cyberbullying or see it happen to others while gaming:
• Tell the player who is bullying to stop.
• Block the player who is bullying from the game and de-friend them on social media and in gaming communities.
• Report the player who is bullying to the game group, team, platform, community, or developers.
• Take a break from playing the game.
• Tell a parent or trusted adult and get some support.

It is important to understand how children are cyberbullied so it can be easily recognized and action can be taken. Some of the most common cyberbullying tactics include:

• Posting comments or rumors about someone online that are mean, hurtful, or embarrassing.
• Threatening to hurt someone or telling them to kill themselves.
• Posting a mean or hurtful picture or video.
• Pretending to be someone else online in order to solicit or post personal or false information about someone else.
• Posting mean or hateful names, comments, or content about any race, religion, ethnicity, or other personal characteristics online.
• Creating a mean or hurtful webpage about someone.
• Doxing, an abbreviated form of the word documents, is a
• form of online harassment used to exact revenge and to
• threaten and destroy the privacy of individuals by making
• their personal information public, including addresses,
• social security, credit card and phone numbers, links to social media accounts, and other private data.

If you notice warning signs that a child may be involved in cyberbullying, take steps to investigate that child’s digital behavior. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying, and adults should take the same approach to address it: support the child being bullied, address the bullying behavior of a participant, and show children that cyberbullying is taken seriously. Because cyberbullying happens online, responding to it requires different approaches. If you think that a child is involved in cyberbullying, there are several things you can do:

• Notice – Recognize if there has been a change in mood or behavior and explore what the cause might be. Try to determine if these changes happen around a child’s use of their digital devices.
• Talk – Ask questions to learn what is happening, how it started, and who is involved.
• Document – Keep a record of what is happening and where. Take screenshots of harmful posts or content if possible. Most laws and policies note that bullying is a repeated behavior, so records help to document it.
• Report – Most social media platforms and schools have clear policies and reporting processes. If a classmate is cyberbullying, report it the school. You can also contact app or social media platforms to report offensive content and have it removed. If a child has received physical threats, or if a potential crime or illegal behavior is occurring, report it to the police.
• Support – Peers, mentors, and trusted adults can sometimes intervene publicly to positively influence a situation where negative or hurtful content posts about a child. Public Intervention can include posting positive comments about the person targeted with bullying to try to shift the conversation in a positive direction. It can also help to reach out to the child who is bullying and the target of the bullying to express your concern. If possible, try to determine if more professional support is needed for those involved, such as speaking with a guidance counselor or mental health professional.

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There is no perfect strategy on how to solve cyberbullying, although, if you know your child is being cyberbullied, the first thing to do is to be supportive and empathetic. Make sure that they know it’s not their fault. Cyberbullying is serious and upsetting, so try not to minimise or trivialise the situation in order to make your child ‘feel better’. Avoid the temptation to stop your child going online at all; this will more likely result in them not telling you if it occurs again.Ways to offer emotional support to your child include:

• Speak to your child and really listen to what they have to say. Thank them for opening up to you, and let them know that you want to put an end to the bullying.
• Never blame your child for experiencing cyberbullying. The way young people interact online may seem excessive to adults, but bullying is never the fault of the person being bullied.
• Acknowledge their feelings and don’t try to dismiss their experiences, even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal to you.
• Reassure them that there are people who can offer support, whether this is you, their teachers or other professionals and services.
• If your child is distressed about the bullying, encourage them to speak to a mental health professional, or direct them to services that can help. like a school counsellor

If you require more information on how to address cyberbullying situations and for general cyberbullying safety tips, read the fact sheet Escalating Cyberbullying.
What to do if your child is being cyberbullied
Being bullied can leave a young person feeling like there’s no one out there who can offer support. If your child is being bullied online, one of the most important things is to reassure them that there are people who can help. Cyberbullying can be a crime. Different states have different laws on cyberbullying. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws/federal

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