Websites of the Week: Cyber Bullying Resources for Parents

Cyberbullying is the topic of the week both here, on DC Metro Moms, Silicon Valley Moms, on City Mama, and even among my colleagues at school.

While I urged schools to include digital citizenship lessons in their curriculum in my post, a child’s education about cyberbulling and the proper use of social networking tools, like Facebook, needs to occur at home. But where to start? Much like talking about the birds and the bees, this could be a touchy subject that is hard to begin a dialogue about around the dinner table.

While there are many more sites that discuss cyberbullying, these are the best of the best to get you started and are well worth my designation of Tech Savvy Mama Websites of the Week.

StopCyberbullying.org is one stop shopping for all things about cyber bullying. Learn what it is, how it works, why kids cyber bully, how to prevent it and take action, and how law enforcement distinguishes between flaming, cyber bullying, harassment, and cyberstalking. This site also features pages for kids, tweens, and teens with age appropriate for each age group about cyber bullying.

If you are looking for some statistics about cyberbullying including how common it is, who the victims are, and the most common methods used, then visit Stop Bullying Now. This site has helpful tips about how to prevent cyberbullying and how to deal with it if your child has been a victim. There are also suggestions for educators.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, take advantage of Facebook for Parents‘ classes, talks, and seminars. The classes are designed to help parents understand more about Facebook by empowering you to think about the social networking tool in a way that will prepare you for what comes next as your child. Not local to Silicon Valley? Not a problem! Sign up for the Facebook for Parents Newsletter. Sent three times a year, this newsletter “helps parents recognize the most important aspects of Facebook, as it relates to their family’s well-being” and includes the latest research, positive aspects of Facebook, and best practices for parents with kids under 18 on Facebook.

WiredKids.org is a site whose goal is to help prevent and investigate cybercrimes. The site has age appropriate pages where they discuss topics like online issues, online safety, and SMS safety in a way that relates to kids (ages 7-10), tweens (11-13), and teens (14-17). I think that their online safety resources for parents are outstanding and worth a look by any parent who has a child that uses technology. Be sure to check out the tip about protecting your children when they aren’t at home. It may sound silly but a colleague of mine recently told me that her daughter was a cyber bully when she visited a friend’s house and together they sent hate e-mail to another one of their friends. Oh, and there’s also a quiz that you can have your kids take to help them determine if they have ever been cyberbullied.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General’s Operation Safe Surf site has an entire section dedicated to cyberbullying which links for students, parents, and teachers to learn more. I especially like how the student sites (K-5, middle school, and high school) include ways that kids can be encouraged to handle cyberbullying and wording for a pledge that your child can take to prevent cyberbullying. Sure the pledge may sound cheesy, but as Little Miss Techie gets older, I want her to know to tell us if she is being cyberbullied and to not be mean to others while on the computer, whether alone or with a friend.

Even if your child vows to you that they have never been a victim and will never victimize a peer, you might want them to watch NetSmartz’s series on cyberbulling. This highly regarded site has a three part series contains real life stories that will help convey the serious nature of cyberbulling to your child.

Do you have have a tip about how you have talked to your child about cyberbullying? What other cyberbullying sites do you think are worth a mention on Tech Savvy Mama? Leave a comment!