Block and forget": why it's not enough if a child has been bullied online.
An offensive nickname in school chat, ridicule under a picture, insults in personal messages. A child may be hurt and afraid, but he doesn't always dare to tell his parents. Some are ashamed, others are afraid of losing their phone or are sure they have to deal with it on their own.
Online47, together with the psychologist Maria Rakimova, understood how to become a support for the child - without accusations and complete control.
Start with support, not questions.
"Thank you for telling me", "You can't be treated like that", "Let's figure it out together" - instead of "Why did you go there? "The child needs to understand: it's not for nothing that he came to ask for help.
Help stop unpleasant contact.
Not responding with insults, saving screenshots, reporting messages and blocking the offender are basic steps. But if it is a classmate, blocking alone may not be enough: the situation will have to be resolved outside the chat, with the participation of adults at school.
Discuss safety instead of demanding to know everything.
If the correspondence bothers you, explain why and offer to look at it together. It is important to help in a specific situation, and not to have unrestricted access to the child's entire personal life.
It is better to start a conversation about what is happening on the Internet not only in the moment of trouble. Be interested, listen and discuss difficult situations. So that your son or daughter knows that at home they will not be guilty again.
Scroll through the cards and save the reminder. Read more about why children are silent, how to talk about cyberbullying, and where the line is between caring and overcontrolling in the full article on the Online47 website.