Look out for age ratings and reviews before permitting them to play any clips or video games. If possible, personally go through the contents of the video
or game as well.

Allowed content should be educational in nature and free from violent connotations and/or vulgarities.

Set parental controls on browsers and devices to minimise the chances of our child viewing inappropriate content. It can also prevent them from making in-app purchases. Find out how we can set up parental controls on various websites and devices here.

Be genuine

Remind them to express themselves online as they would offline (e.g. share about things that they truly enjoy to stay genuine and sincere).

Be mindful of how they express themselves

Remind them that the things that they might want to say may be perceived differently online as compared to a spoken conversation, especially with the use of abbreviations, emoji, and the lack of face-to-face communication.

For example, they might capitalise their words in an Instagram post to express excitement, but it can come off as aggressive online.

Be aware of what they share

Remind our child that what they say online can be easily accessed by others, even if it’s a private message or post.

Before posting anything, they should remind themselves of the acronym ‘THINK’:

Stay calm

It can be easy to misinterpret what others are saying online. Advise our child to refrain from being too quick to jump to conclusions or to take offense with the other party. Instead, encourage our child to clarify what was said.

Miscommunication is unavoidable and may happen because our online expressions do not contain the same non-verbal cues as they do offline.

Be respectful

Encourage our child to be kind and considerate by respecting other people online, especially their privacy.

Spread positivity, not rumours

Advise them to avoid spreading rumours as these can circulate a lot more easily online.

Encourage them to be considerate towards others and treat others the same way that they would want to be treated. For example, ask for permission before posting photos, videos, and details of others online.

Saying “no” and meaning it

This can help to establish boundaries. Our child should practise saying “no” when they are uncomfortable with any requests such as a friend asking them to share inappropriate content on social media. This helps them stay firm in their decision when experiencing negativity online.

Teach them to stop “following” inappropriate accounts and inform a trusted adult

Help them understand that if something makes them uncomfortable on social media, they should stop following the account and change the platform settings to view less of those posts. They should also inform a trusted adult.

Remind them of the consequences

Have our child imagine what the consequence might be if they get involved in things that they are uncomfortable with. If the imagined consequence is not something they appreciate, it is a sign that they should not participate.

Avoid oversharing our child’s life online as we cannot be sure who comes across our posts and what they might do with the information about our child. Exclude information such as location tags or pictures of them in their uniform.

Ensure our privacy settings are on the strictest settings.

Ensure that we know and trust those in our friends and followers list.

If our child is old enough, ask them for their permission before posting pictures of them.

Stop what we are doing online

Encourage them to stop whatever they are doing online if they encounter something that makes them uncomfortable, fearful or hurt.

Block the person

Cyberbullies love the attention they get, and the more our child reacts to them, the more likely they will return to bother them. Advise our child that it is best to disregard their hurtful comments and be unresponsive so that they get bored and move on.

If someone is sending them hurtful texts or posting insulting or hateful things online, our child should block all lines of communication with the cyberbully.

Get them to update their privacy settings such that only people they allow, can view their profile. Our child can also block or restrict the offending account through the social media app.

Save the evidence

If things get out of hand and the bully refuses to go away, advise our child to keep all offensive, hateful, and abusive emails, comments and text messages in a folder — complete with dates and times — so that if we, our child or the authorities find the identity of the bully, there is proof of their behaviour.

Tell us or a trusted adult

Remind our child that if they ever feel that the cyberbullying is getting way out of hand, they can, and should get help from us or another trusted adult.

Remind them that they do not need to go through it alone. If they feel emotionally distressed, seek professional help for them immediately.

Report

Report these cyberbullies to the appropriate authorities such as the police, especially if our child’s personal safety is being threatened or their reputation is being damaged.

We can help our child to report the cyberbullying incident through the respective social media platforms.