Cyberbullying What does it mean? What can we do?

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as mobile phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites. Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or s, rumours sent by or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles. What is cyberbullying?

Facebook Instagram Twitter Text messaging Instant messaging (iMessage) Snapchat Skype Vine Ask.fm Tumblr Yik Yak

Facebook Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. You have to be 13 to create a Facebook account Facebook has 1.4 billion users worldwide It has different privacy settings which can stop other people being allowed to access your page 54% of young people in the UK had received some form of bullying on the site, according to recent surveys. The most common ways to be bullied on the site are via Facebook Chat and fake profiles Ways to combat this are making sure that your profile is as secure as it can be and not accepting Friend Requests from people that you do not know.

Instagram Instagram is the name of an online photo sharing social Web service that lets you share your life with friends through a series of pictures captured with a mobile device. You should be 13 to create an Instagram account Instagram has 75 million daily users 9% of teenage girls claim to have been bullied on Instagram Privacy settings can be changed to prevent anyone unwanted accessing your account Geotagging should be turned off so your location is not visible to anyone. Anyone could keep a trace on where you go, if you do not.

Twitter Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Again Twitter advise that no-one under 13 should have an account, but there is no actual age restriction. 500 million tweets are sent per day Tweets can be Protected (where only Followers can see them) or Unprotected (where anyone can see them, even if they don’t have a Twitter account) Many online bullies search out people to humiliate on Twitter.

Snapchat Snapchat is a photo messaging application. Using the application, users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. You have to be 13 to create a Snapchat account Once a Snapchat has been sent the recipient has 10 seconds to save it, otherwise it disappears. Snapchat informs you if your picture has been saved. There are privacy settings which let you minimise who sees your Snapchats. There is also a My Story page where everyone on your friends list can access your photos for 24 hours.

Skype Skype is a computer program that can be used to make free voice calls over the Internet to anyone else who is also using Skype. It's free and considered easy to download and use, and works with most computers. Skype usually involves making a video call from one person to another. Remember if you are using a webcam, that the person at the other end could be recording everything you do. Skype can also be used to Instant Message. This involves messaging people in “real time” In 2014 a teenager from Fife took his own life after a video of him, recorded from Skype, was used to blackmail him.

Vine Vine is a free mobile application that enables users to record and share an unlimited number of short, looping video clips with a maximum length of six seconds. You must be 17 to hold a Vine account. This has recently be raised from 12. Vine raised their age limit after the app was continuously used to upload videos of sexual activity. There was also a recent trend for “vinefights” where teenagers recorded short videos of people fighting and uploaded them to the site. The number of active teen users rose by 639% last year alone.

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized in its logo as tumblr.) is a microblogging platform and social networking website owned by Yahoo! Inc. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. You have to be 13 to hold a tumblr account. Tumblr has 420 million users worldwide A survey was conducted by the No Bullying website, 24% of teenagers surveyed had used tumblr, and of the 24%, 22% stated that they had been bullied on the site. Tumblr pages can be made private so that only selected people can access them.

Ask.fm Ask.fm is a global social networking site where users create profiles and can send each other questions, with the option of doing so anonymously. Ask.fm has 150 million users monthly 13 is the age limit for an ask.fm account There is no monitoring service for ask.fm so teenagers can be asked literally anything. One user can block another if they are willing to give a reason but that person can still access your profile and see all other interactions As the site is anonymous there is no way of tracing bullies.

Yik Yak Yik Yak is a social media smartphone application. It allows people anonymously to create and view "Yaks" within a 10 mile radius. All users have the ability to contribute to the stream by writing, responding, and "voting up" or "voting down" (liking or disliking) yaks. 17 is the age limit for downloading Yik Yak but there is no actual way to check or prove the age of people using it as the app is anonymous. 3.6 million users monthly It is the fastest growing social media app within the USA/UK at the moment Although it cannot be used within a school, it can be used as soon as pupils walk out the door.

These are just some examples of how social media sites are used by teenagers to cyberbully each other. With each passing year, the number of incidents of cyberbullying that the Guidance Team deals with, rises. The vast majority of these incidents take place outside of school. We ask that all parents are vigilant of the apps and websites that the pupils are accessing and how they are using them. Social Media is an excellent resource when used properly and the opportunities that can be gained through social media are growing all the time. All these sites have benefits and can be great fun but teenagers should always be extra careful online.