If Your Child is Being Cyberbullied...
1. Don’t respond to the bully.
- Fighting insults with insults will make the situation worse, and put you at risk of being reported.
2. Save or print harassing messages, then keep them out of sight.
- Keep documentation of the bullying for reporting later.
- Don’t ruminate over hurtful comments. It won’t help the situation.
3. Block the bully and report their behavior.
- Use the program’s blocking feature to stop the bully from contacting you, and the reporting mechanism to let program administrators know about the bullying.
4. Tell a trusted adult.
- Find a teacher, parent, neighbor, or other adult and tell them about the bullying incident.
- If they don’t do anything, find someone else and tell them. Keep telling until someone listens.
5. Contact school officials.
- Tell teachers, coaches, principals, and other administrators about the bullying. Show them documentation.
- Do not attempt to contact the bully’s parents. Let the school do this.
- If school officials do not respond, talk to the superintendent and the school board.
- Join with other parents and keep voicing your concerns until the school takes action.
6. Seek outside help.
- Talk to staff at JWRC or other advocates about the possibility of legal action against the bully and/or the school.
- If you receive threats of physical violence, or if you are injured, contact police.
- Seek mental health intervention for the target of the bullying.