To mark Stop Cyberbullying Day 2014, Kaspersky Lab has released a checklist of top tips for keeping your children safe from cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the use of cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms or social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to harass threaten or intimidate someone.
Cyberbullying is often done by children out of anger, revenge or frustration. Sometimes they do it for entertainment or because they are bored and have too much time on their hands and too many tech toys available to them. In today’s technology it has become very easier than ever before for bullies to attack the vulnerable. The culture of widespread over-sharing on social networks that has become the norm in society today has unwittingly thrown fuel on the fire.
It’s important that we talk to our children about cyberbullying. If you’re a parent of a child who is on the receiving end, remind them that they’re not alone. It’s a problem faced by lots of other children; and is one that some of their idols have suffered too – Miley Cyrus, Cheryl Cole, Demi Lovato, Kim Kardashian and many others have all spoken out about their experiences.
Commenting on this day, Mr Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab South Asia ‘On the Internet, you can find information about almost anything. However, when it comes to your children’s online activities, you need to make sure they’re protected against contact with undesirable people, inappropriate or harmful content and malicious software or attacks. Children can be just as vulnerable online as they are in the real world. So it’s important that you do whatever you can to reduce the chances of your kids being exposed to any risks.’
