Some Horrible Cyberbullying Cases – How You Can Avoid Them

With the blend of social media platforms in our lives, the chances of being a bully or a victim have increased incredibly. Where every action done by us or our kids is on the show on these platforms, it has become easier for the bullies to use them for negative purposes. There are several cyberbullying cases out there that scare the parents nowadays.

Cyberbullying is harder to notice sometimes, as traditional bullying is what was common all the way long. Parents need to be aware of their surroundings and the up-to-date advanced technologies to keep a keen eye on their kids. Every kid using the internet is prone to cyberbullying more than the other dangers.

Some Cyberbullying Cases

Here are some cyberbullying cases that reflect the intensity of this issue prevailing in our society. Know how someone can turn into a victim in no time.

Tyler Clementi

Tyler was an 18-years old kid who studied at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He was a roommate with another guy Dharun Ravi. Whenever Tyler asked Ravi to let him use the room for some time, he would set up his webcam in the direction of Tyler’s bed and watch it in another room. He used to watch Tyler kissing other men. One time he invited all his friends to watch.

Soon, he uploaded the videos on Twitter and announced that his roommate is gay. Tyler was so devastated that three days later he posted on Facebook that he is jumping off the bridge, which he did. His body was found seven days later.

Amanda Todd

Amanda was a 15-year old student from British Columbia. She fell for a guy over the internet who started chatting with her continuously. He would ask her to flash him, and she would do. He took inappropriate photos of Amanda and started blackmailing her. He asked her to do weird things but she refused. So, he released her photos on Facebook, sharing with her friends.

Completely devastated by this incident, Amanda used the support of alcohol, drugs, and insecure physical relationships. Soon, her friends started ignoring her and she was left alone. With all her depression and horrible social encounters, Amanda committed suicide after multiple failed attempts.

Hailee Lamberth

She was a 13-year old kid who suffered from epilepsy. Her classmates used to make fun of her. The traditional bullying updated to cyberbullying in online forums and social media platforms. Everyone who was a bully to her would tell her to kill herself because of the condition she had. She finally committed suicide because she couldn’t take the bullying anymore.

She was a healthy person before dealing with her epilepsy. But, the bullying made it worse. One time she received a text from a bully, saying, ‘I hope you die’. These words hit her hard. Because of extreme cyberbullying, she was suffering from depression as well.

Read about more horrible stories right here: https://www.familyorbit.com/blog/real-life-cyberbullying-horror-stories/

How Parents Can Help?

Being parents, your heart must be broken and all devastated by knowing all these terrible cases. Every parent would be scared after knowing how many threats are waiting for their teenage the moment they walk out or even use their smartphones. Parents, being the guardians, are right to worry about what role they should play in protecting their kids from suffering through such dangers.

So, here a bunch of things that parents can do to ensure their kids’ safety:

1. Teach Them About Privacy

You have bought them the first smartphone and left them to explore. Is that smart? Well, no. the moment you introduce them to a new device or an app, you must teach them the basics about privacy settings. There are several cases where kids don’t even know that there are privacy settings on the app they are using.

Whose responsibility is that then? It is yours. You must tell them what app allows how much privacy. And, teach them how to be aware of their surroundings when they are not at home. Such basic things must be taught to them by you at the very start.

2. Be Available to Them

There are 90% chances that your kid won’t share any trouble with you if you are all authoritative on them. Imagine them suffering through the worst times of their lives alone. You must develop an environment where they are open to you. They must feel comfortable in telling you everything.

Most of the kids perform self-harming acts or commit suicide because they think they are alone. Why should they think like that if they have parents? Keep a regular check on them. Share with them and let them share. Don’t be too rude when you are responding to them. They need to know that they are not alone.

3. Use Parental Control Apps

Using parental control apps is an essential part of parenting now. Do you think you know everything when you don’t even know who they are chatting with? They are kids, they think everything they do is completely safe and okay. They surely cannot think the other way around and you cannot force them to do so.

What you can do is to choose the best parental control app and use it to monitor their online activities. SecureTeen, being one of the most effective apps can help you keep a keen eye on them. It will tell you when anything goes wrong or if there is anything your kids are doing wrong. So, why not make it easy for yourself?

Here are some more ways to protect your kids from cyberbullying: https://www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting/10-tips-protect-your-child-cyber-bullying/

Monitoring them, talking to them, and being open to them are the most appropriate ways of dealing with them effectively. They must not feel lonely whenever any trouble kicks in. Given the intensity of cyberbullying, it can lead to many severe acts. So, it is our duty to be informed and aware of the things going on with our kids. Once you know it, you can surely help them. So, take a step forward towards the safety of your kids today.