Teaching children and teens how to stay
safe on social media is part and parcel of modern
parenting. We tell our children don’t give out personal
information, limit their online connections and friends to
people they know in person, and remember that whatever is
posted on the internet, remains there
permanently.
While the staples of online safety are
now firmly entrenched in many, if not most, households, less
attention is paid to online bullying.
A 2018 Ipsos
study estimated that cyberbullying in New Zealand was the
third-highest worldwide (based on a survey of 29
countries), with more than 25 per cent of parents stating
that their children have experienced
cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying and its
impact
Cyberbullying is when someone uses technology
to bully someone else. It can take numerous forms and
include:
Sending hateful messages
Posting mean comments on other people’s posts
Posting hurtful things about others on social
media
Threatening physical harm or actions
designed to embarrass
Unlike in-person bullying,
cyberbullying can be difficult to identify for several
reasons. For one, it’s easy for bullies to hide behind their
computers. It can also be hard for parents and even victims
to differentiate between “normal” schoolyard teasing and
something more insidious.
The impact of cyberbullying
is similar to in-person bullying; children may become
withdrawn, feel unhappy, suffer with their self-esteem, and
experience anxiety or depression.
Where cyberbullying
happens
Cyberbullying occurs across a variety of
platforms. Most notable is how common toxic behavior is on
social media and gaming platforms. It’s been
well-documented the battle between social media companies
and organizations over censorship of abusive language, but
one platform that goes under the radar is YouTube.
In
a Cox survey, for instance, 54 per cent of the teen
participants said they had witnessed cyberbullying, and 29
per cent of these incidents were seen on
YouTube.
According to a 2018 Pew Research Centre
report, 85 per cent of teens aged 13 to 17 hold a
YouTube account, and of these, 32 per cent said the
video-sharing giant is the social platform they use most
often.
YouTube’s broad appeal to today’s teenagers
and pre-teens is down to several factors, not least the
sheer breadth of content available. There is also the
potential to go viral to consider; several young celebrities
found their initial audiences on YouTube, and many others
founded lucrative careers as content creators and
influencers.
However, the level of abuse some notable
YouTubers face can be surprising. Danielle Cohn first gained
an audience with her lip-synching and dancing videos. By the
age of 13, Danielle was earning enough to help support her
family, who eventually moved to Los Angeles so Danielle
could be nearer the brands she was partnered
with.
Alongside her success, though, she has faced her
fair share of hatred, including several Instagram pages
dedicated to anti-Danielle sentiment. Aotearoa’s own Lorde
has spoken out about the cyberbullying she and her
then-partner James Lowe experienced in 2013, with many
racist comments leveled at James.
Preventing and
handling cyberbullying
The best offense against
cyberbullying is education. Parents need to have frank
discussions with their children about what it means to be a
good digital citizen, which largely encompasses treating
others online as we would in real life.
Parents can
also ensure that children know what to do if they are
experiencing online bullying:
Block, report, and
remove – Bullies’ comments on the child’s own posts can
be removed and reported for harassment. Bullies themselves
can be blocked.
Talk to a trusted adult – Whether
that adult is a parent, a friend’s parent, a teacher, or a
family friend. Adults should remember that removing online
privileges isn’t the best way to handle
cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying on YouTube and other
social platforms is an issue that is unlikely to go away
soon, certainly not with the increasing sway social media
holds among teens. Prevention begins at home. The NZ police
list a range of helpful resources to help combat bullying
here.
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