Elsa Rodriguez

CUIN 3314
April 29, 2019

Safety and Cyberbullying:

The Realities of The Digital World for A Younger Audience

In today’s cyberworld we are constantly connecting and interacting with new people

along with being exposed to new information every single minute. However, how can you tell if

something is not right? While it might have happened to you or someone you know

cyberbullying has become a very known topic recently. Cyberbullying can come in many shapes

and forms from mean messages, spreading rumors, to even posting an embarrassing photo

unknowingly. So how can we prevent cyberbullying? We will go over ten tips to utilize in the

prevention of cyberbullying and creating a safe positive environment online.

Tip One: Keeping your devices in a safe place with the proper protection. If you were to

lose your phone or computer today, would whoever found it be able to go through your

information? Having all devices password protected is crucial. Make sure that you do not use the

same password for everything as this can turn a bad situation into a worse one. Keeping your

devices in a safe place can also give you peace of mind.

Tip Two: Google yourself. Knowing what information is out there about you can help

you prevent a sticky situation. This will help you understand what public information pertaining

to you others can see. It also allows you to see if your social media accounts are visible to the

general public as sometimes prospective employers and Universities will conduct a web search

on you. After doing this you can also “clean up [your] social media accounts and any other sites
that may undermine others’ perceptions of their character, integrity, and maturity.” (Digital

Citizenship Activities for Educators, 2019).

Tip Three: Protect your privacy. Having all of your information online can put you in a

dangerous situation. Avoid putting personal information online such as your phone number,

address, etc. Another great way to protect your privacy can be posting pictures after an event is

over not during as doing this can result in someone knowing your exact location. When you put

your personal information online you are putting yourself at risk for being “Kidnapped, sexually

assaulted, or victimized” (Digital Citizenship Activities for Educators, 2019).

Tip Four: Be cautious and wise with whom you connect with. When connecting with a

stranger online you do not know their intentions. They can steal your information and even

create a fake profile with your pictures and other data on it. It is best practice to only connect

with individuals with whom you actually interact with in real life. You can “Be choosey – social

media is not a popularity contest.” (Make Sure Your Kids Have a Digital Checkup).

Tip Five: For Parents – Know who your kids talk to. For parents this can be particularly

tough as kids usually tend to want to keep their social life private from them. But cyberbullying

usually starts in school where kids are bullied in real life and only go home to be bullied online

by the same kids. As parents it is important to stay vigilant of who your kids interact with online

and off.

Tip Six: Stranger danger. We all get inboxes from people we do not personally know

from time to time. This can be potentially dangerous as the person contacting you might not be

who they say they are. When someone contacts you the best thing you can do is make sure you

never give out your personal information to them and possibly report their page if you feel they
are trying to get information out of you. This allows the media site to take a particularly closer

look at the individual.

Tip Seven: Set rules and boundaries. Having time of from your social media is necessary.

You can start to develop unhealthy habits if you spend too much time online. The best way to

regulate this is to limit the amount of time you spend online and at what times during the day you

can use your devices. Apple has a great way to tackle this issue. You can set time limits on your

social media apps and your iPhone will let you know when your time is up. It even gives you

information on how much time you spent on your phone, what apps you use the most and how

many times you picked up your phone per hour among many other things.

Tip Eight: Get consent to post photos of others. Taking a picture with friends and posting

it online without their consent can be a difficult situation. Your friend might think they look

terrible in the picture and think you posted it knowingly to be mean, this is one of many

situations that can arise from posting a photo of others without their consent. It is always best to

double check with someone then to have to apologize after the damage has been done.

Tip Nine: Give credit where it is due. You might see a funny post online and then post it

yourself, if the original person who wrote the post were to see it they could potentially become

upset with your actions. The best and easiest way to handle this is to either share the original post

or give credit in the comments section of your post.

Tip Ten: Creating a safe and positive environment online starts with you. Be kind to

everyone you interact with online, respect goes a long way.

Overall, you are not in control of what others say and do online but you are in control of

yourself. Be sure to keep your personal life and information separate from social media. Protect

your information by using passwords and storing your devices in a safe place. Avoid strangers
online and report any suspicious activity. Finally, be kind and respectful of others online

remember to always ask permission if it involves someone other than yourself and always give

credit when its due. We can all contribute to a safer cyberbully free environment.
 References

“5 Ways We All Can Generate More Positivity Online.” 5 Ways We All Can Generate More

Positivity Online, www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting/5-ways-we-all-can-generate-more-

positivity-online/.

“Cyberbullying & Digital Drama.” Common Sense Education, 1 Oct. 2017,

www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/cyberbullying-and-digital-drama.

“Digital Citizenship Activities for Educators.” Cyberbullying Research Center, 17 Feb. 2019,

cyberbullying.org/digital-citizenship-activities-for-educators.

“Make Sure Your Kids Have a Digital Checkup.” Make Sure Your Kid's Have a Digital Checkup,

www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting/make-sure-your-kids-have-digital-checkup/.

“Digital Citizenship: Cyberbullying: Initial Student Device Information”,

canvas.instructure.com/courses/1039631/pages/digital-citizenship-cyberbullying.