Cyber bullying is when a person or group of people use modern technology, such as the internet, mobile phones or other digital technologies to deliberately cause upset to someone by threatening, harassing, abusing or teasing them.

Cyber bullying can include:

• texting offensive or rude messages by mobile phone

 • sending unpleasant or personal photographs by mobile phone

 • using online message boards, chat rooms or social networking sites to post cruel messages

 • deleting the victim’s name from, or ignoring their messages on, social networking sites

 Research suggests that cyber bullying is common among teenagers - at least one in five has been a victim of it. The practice is becoming more widespread. A major difference between cyber bullying and other types of bullying is that the cyber bully can follow your child into the house, even into his or her bedroom. Another disturbing aspect of cyber bullying is that the victim often feels there’s nowhere to hide.

What should I do if my child is being cyber bullied?

If you suspect your child is being cyber bullied, don’t ignore it, it is not as easy as telling them to simply ‘log off’. Consider the following approaches:

 • Be aware of your child’s internet activity.

• Try to understand the technology and communication networks your child uses.

• Ask your child to show you any nasty messages he or she receives.

• Tell your child never to respond to an abusive text message - what the cyber bully most wants is a reply.

• Speak to staff especially if other students at the school are involved. Even if they aren’t, we will still be able to advise you on the best course of action and can help your son with any anxieties he might have.

• Discourage use of the internet in private spaces where adults are not present to monitor what is going on.

• Ensure your child does not set up social networking IDs with inappropriate personal pictures, ages and/or descriptions.

• Report the abuse through the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) website.

 • Report the matter to the school and/or to the police depending on the circumstances.

No one wants to think of their child bullying other children. But cyber bullying is different from other forms of bullying, tactics can often be hidden and more subtle, so it’s sometimes difficult to detect. Cyber bullies don’t need to be bigger or more aggressive or even in the same place as the child they’re bullying. But like all bullies, they often rely on the support of bystanders - other children who observe what they’re doing and don’t challenge them. Ask your child if they’ve ever done anything online to hurt or upset anyone. It’s important to emphasise to your child that being cruel to other children and taking part in an activity that could hurt them is wrong.

Cyber bullying also gives children the opportunity to bully adults. Teachers are sometimes the victims of internet messaging that undermines or ridicules them. Make sure your child is aware that these activities are unacceptable and that the school will deal harshly with the pupils involved.

This is a matter which the school takes very seriously and thus we educate students about the damaging effects of this type of behaviour. Bullying and cyber bullying are covered in PSHE in all Year Groups in Form time, PSHE Lessons and on Flexidays.

 You should advise your child:

• Not to reply to any messages they receive, as this may encourage the bullies. Advise them not to retaliate.

• Not to answer calls from withheld numbers or from numbers they do not recognise

• To keep a copy of the abusive emails, texts or messages that they receive and when these were sent.

• Never to give out any personal details on the internet such as their real name, address, age or phone number. Even telling someone which school they attend can help that person find out information about them.

• To change their online nicknames or user ID to something different.

• To consider changing their mobile number and to only give the new number to close friends.

• To block any offending user where possible from websites.

 • To contact the service provider or host (ie: the chatroom, the social network provider, or mobile operator) to inform them of what has happened, and get their advice on how to stop this happening again. The service provider may be able to block particular senders or callers (for landlines), or advise on how to change contact details, and potentially delete the accounts of those that are abusing the service. What can I do to block nuisance calls, messages, etc?

 • All UK Mobile operators have nuisance call centres set up and/or procedures in place to deal with such instances so you may wish to contact them directly (see below for contact details). Apps are available online for certain mobile phones which can be set up to block unwanted calls or texts. The caller/texter doesn’t know they’ve been blocked.

• It is normally possible to block / ignore particular users on social networking sites, which should mean the user can stop receiving unwanted comments. Users can do this from within the site. Many social network providers also enable users to pre-moderate any comments left on their profile before they are visible by others. This can help a user prevent unwanted or hurtful comments appearing on their profile for all to see. The user should also set their profile to ‘Private’, so that only those authorised by the user are able to access and see their profile.

• It is possible to block users, or change Instant Messenger IDs so the bully is not able to contact their target any more. Most providers will have information on their website about how to do this. In addition, the Instant Messenger provider can investigate and shut down any accounts that have been misused and clearly break their terms of service. The best evidence for the service provider is archived or recorded “conversations”, and most IM providers allow the user to “record” all messages.

 • It is possible to block particular email senders or the person being bullied can change their email address. The email provider will have information on their website about how to create a new account.

 • It is possible to get content taken down from video-hosting sites, though the content will need to be illegal or have broken the terms of service of the site in other ways. On YouTube, perhaps the most well-known of such sites, it is possible to report content to the site provider as inappropriate. In order to do this, you will need to create an account (this is free) and log in, and then you will have the option to ‘flag content as inappropriate’. The option to flag the content is under the video content itself.

 • Most “chat rooms” should offer the user the option of blocking or ignoring particular users. Some services may be moderated, and the moderators will warn users posting abusive comments, or take down content that breaks their terms of use. It is good practice for chat providers to have a clear and prominent reporting mechanism to enable the user to contact the service provider. Users that abuse the service can have their account deleted.

If images are involved in the cyber bullying, it is important to ascertain if these might be illegal or raise child protection concerns. Indecent or sexual images of children (defined as people under the age of 18) are illegal to produce, circulate or possess in the UK. These include images that children have taken of themselves or their friends, using their mobile phone or other devices.

Contact:

• Internet Watch Foundation, if the images are internet content (see www.iwf.org.uk).

• The local police, if illegal images have been taken of a child and circulated. Similarly if there is a recording of a crime, eg assault on another child, contact the local police.

Contacts for mobile phone companies

• O2: ncb@o2.com or 0844 809 0200

• Vodafone: 191 from a Vodafone phone or 0870 070 0191 (pay monthly) and 0870 077 6655 (pay as you go)

• 3: call 333 from a 3 phone or 0843 373 3333

• T-Mobile: Call 150 from a T-mobile phone or 0845 412 5000 • EE: Call 150 from an EE phone or 07953 966250