Talking to vulnerable children

Ask them about what they do online, what apps or sites they use, and if they can show you how to use them

Get a clear idea of how they stay safe online. Do they know not to share personal details with friends?

Do they know the minimum age of popular social media sites like Facebook is 13 years old?

Encourage them to be a good citizen and share our ‘Top Internet Manners’ to help them use their power for good online

Check if they know how to report things that upset them online or block people. Do they know to come to you to talk about anything they are worried about?

Reassure your child that they’ve done the right thing by telling you, that it’s not their fault and that you’ll work together to find a solution

Save evidence of cyberbullying and keep a note of times and patterns of when it happens

Block the perpetrators so they can’t contact your child and report the cyberbullying to the site, school and, or police

Report discriminatory bullying as a hate crime or incident to the police if it is specifically targeted their to disability

Don’t encourage your child to retaliate or respond to the perpetrators

Don’t delete their social media activity or take away their device to make sure they don’t feel afraid to tell you in the future

Give them time to communicate what has happened as they might find it challenging

Don’t overreact if they do something you don’t want them to online, they might not want to discuss it again