Preventing cyberbullying is the best way to avoid the problems that go with it and there are some simple tips you can follow to protect yourself from cyberbullying and bullying.
- Personal Security. Do not share your passwords with anyone including your friends. There is no reason someone needs access to your password or accounts online. It might seem easy or harmless to give a password to a friend but things can change and you should be the only person with access to your accounts.
- Use multiple logins / passwords. Using different passwords and logins for different accounts may seem like a pain to keep up with but it means that someone cannot access all your accounts by simply gaining access to a single login.
- Don’t share private or nude photos with people. These can then be re-shared with others and can get beyond your control causing embarrassment or harassment. Anything you share should be something you wouldn’t mind if everyone saw.
- Always think before you post anything. If you’re angry, sad, or upset, you should wait to post or respond to something you see. Make sure you cool down and think about your response. You don’t want to post something
you will regret or that you can’t take back. - Consider what you are sharing. Remember everything you post online will remain around for a very long time. Don’t share anything you wouldn’t be comfortable with anyone knowing. Even if you share privately with friends it can be shared and shown to others or found by parents and teachers.
- Empathy. Think about comments you post about someone else. How would you feel if someone was saying that about you? Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes before you do something that may purposefully or inadvertently hurt someone’s feelings.