Cyberbullying: What Educators Need to Know

Cyberbullying WHAT EDUCATORS NEED TO KNOW EDUCATORS’ ROLE Help the victim • Recognize signs of bullying, • Take the victim seriously, and reassure them that you will help: > Talk to me, I will listen! > I will stand up for you > You are not alone Know the laws • Know the school policy. • Know the country laws: Qatar Cybercrime Prevention Law No. (14) of 2014. Prevent the bully Work on preventing a culture of bullying and tackle the source and issues behind bullying • Help the bully understand the consequences of their actions. • Help the bully express any issues they have in more productive ways. PREVALENCE OF BULLYING IN QATAR* According to the Microsoft (2012) study: Investigating online bullying among 8–17 year olds compared to the rest of the world. TYPES OF BULLYING Fraping When a bully uses your child’s social networking accounts without permission and destroys comments or pictures or creates new and offensive comments and pictures. Dissing Spreading cruel information about their target through public posts or private messages to ruin their reputation or relationships with other people. Harassment Generally refers to a sustained and constant pattern of hurtful or threatening online messages sent with the intention of doing harm to someone. Outing/Doxing Revealing sensitive or personal information about someone without their consent for purposes of embarrassing or humiliating them Exclusion When a person deliberately leaves a victim out of a social event or group. Stalking Threats of physical harm to the victim. It can include monitoring, false accusations and threats and is often accompanied by offline stalking. Impersonation Stealing someone's identity and posting fake, rude or harmful remarks, while pretending to be the victim. Masquerading Creating a fake identity or impersonating someone to harass the victims, send malicious messages to them or even lure them into fake relationships or dangerous situations. Trolling Flaming When a bully will seek out to intentionally upset others by posting inflammatory comments online. Flaming is similar to trolling, but will usually be a more direct attack on a victim to incite the latter into online fights by posting about or directly sending insults and profanity to their target. LOOK OUT FOR SIGNS A CHILD MAY BE CYBERBULLIED: • Being emotional or upset during or after using the internet or phone. • Staying secretive or protective of their digital life. • Withdrawing from family, friends or activities. • Avoiding group or school gatherings. • Noticeable slip in grades. • Changes in mood, behavior, sleep or appetite. • Stopping the use of computers or cell phones. • Nervousness or jumpiness when receiving an instant message, text or email. • Avoiding discussions about Internet-related activities.