Internet Safety for Kids

Responding to Cyberbullying

It's important to teach your kids how to respond to cyberbullying. You can tell your kids to use the following guidelines if they're being bullied.

Blocking a bully in Microsoft Messenger

• Don't reply to the bully. A bully often wants to get a reaction from their victims. If you ignore them, they may lose interest.
• If possible, block messages from the bully. If the bullying is happening in chat, email, or on a social networking site, you can usually block all messages from the bully.
• Keep all emails or other messages that the bully sends. You may need to use these as evidence at some point.
• Report the bullying to a parent or trusted adult. If the bullying continues, you should tell a parent or trusted adult (such as a teacher) so that they can help you deal with the problem.