WHAT IS CYBERBULLYING?

Cyberbullying is a form of bullying which includes any deliberate use of information and communication technology to upset someone else, such as mobile phones, instant messaging, emails, websites, chatrooms, message boards, Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs such as Second Life) or social networking sites.

If you’d like more examples and information about cyberbullying and bullying in general, you can download the parent booklet instantly on this website or buy it via Amazon or the publisher.

WHY KIDS HIDE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE BEING BULLIED

Even the most supportive and loving parents have children who are being bullied and who don’t say anything – or who take a while to say something – because even though children who are bullied desperately want it to stop, there are many reasons why a child might be reluctant to tell you.

For example, children may worry it will get worse if you intervene. They may think they’ll get into trouble if they fought back or skipped school. Or they may just think it’s something they have to put up with – or they may convince themselves that it will stop.

If you’d like to see the extended list of reasons, together with sections such as how to approach schools and what to do if talking to the teacher isn’t working, you can download the parent booklet instantly on this website or buy it via Amazon or the publisher.

WHAT IS BULLYING?

Bullying is very hard to define. Even leading researchers have a job to pin it down, so you are not alone if you’re struggling to work out what can be called bullying and what can’t.

Bullying can be done by one or more people and what marks behaviour as bullying is that it is deliberate, although proving that can sometimes be difficult if someone says they were only teasing and didn’t realise it was causing so much distress. Bullying usually happens more than once and can be physical, psychological and/or social. It causes distress for the person being bullied and the target of the bullying is usually weaker in some way and feels unable to defend themselves when it is happening.

If you’d find it helpful to read examples of what can be called bullying as well as basic information about how to approach the subject of bullying with your child or how to help prepare them to deal with bullying, you can download the parent booklet instantly on this website or buy it via Amazon or the publisher.

HOW TO BLOCK AN EMAIL ADDRESS

Different email systems will vary, but on hotmail, for example, you can go to your email account, click on ‘options’ on the top right corner. Then click ‘more options’ at the bottom of the list.

You’ll see an orange heading called ‘junk email’. Under this click the ‘safe and blocked senders option. Then click the ‘blocked senders’ option.

You can then type the offending email address into the box they give and click the ‘add to the list’ button.

If you’d like basic information about mobile phone bullying, together with answers to some very general questions about bullying, you can download the parent booklet instantly on this website or buy it via Amazon or the publisher.

SHOULD KIDS HIT BACK

Men in particular have fought each other physically for centuries to establish who is the most powerful, so it is understandable why you might want to advise a child to hit back if they have been physically bullied - and why you might worry that if your child doesn’t, they may become even more of a target.

But it’s unlikely that hitting back is going to be the most productive solution. If you encourage a child to hit back, at the very least you could have a harder job trying to convince a school that they are being bullied and that they aren’t actually the bully.

It’s also likely that your child was picked on precisely because, at the moment, they aren’t as physically strong as the person – or people – doing the bullying. And in some cases if a child fights back they could end up in serious physical danger.

Equally, if you ask a child not to fight back physically, you still need to give them a way to feel as if they’re doing something to combat the bullying but in their own way.

If you’d like to read about some immediate and basic ways in which you can help your child without them physically fighting back, you can download the parent booklet instantly on this website or buy it via Amazon or the publisher.

SIGNS YOUR CHILD IS BULLIED

How can I tell if my child is being bullied?

It is not always easy to tell if a child is being bullied. Sometimes the signs are very subtle or the child tries desperately hard to hide them.

Some things to look out for include a child being reluctant to go to school, quieter or naughtier than usual, having disturbed sleep and nightmares and not wanting to play with people they might have played with in the past.

If you’d like the full list of signs to watch out for, together with answers to some other general questions about bullying, you can download the parent booklet instantly on this website or buy it via Amazon or the publisher.