Cyberbullying

What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is the repetitive and intentional hurting of a person or group of people that happens online. It can happen via text, email and on social networks and gaming platforms.

Advice for parents I Internet Matters

Cyberbullying happens online and follows children 24/7 unlike traditional forms of bullying. It can affect a child's well being and mental health and in some extreme cases can cause the child to take their own life. For more advice about the issue, visit our info hub: https://www.internetmatters.org/issues/cyberbullying/learn-about-it/

5 things you need to know about cyberbullying

It can happen 24/7 repeatedly on a range of apps, games and devices
It can reach a larger number of people and increase the chance that others will join in the bullying
Children can’t see the impact of their words so may post or share something without thinking
It can be anonymous so it’s harder to see who’s behind it
It’s growing and can consist of harassment, threats, exclusion, defamation, and manipulation

Cyberbullying advice from Dr Linda Papadopoulos | Internet Matters

To help parents understand how they can help their child deal with cyberbullying Dr Linda Papadopoulos give advice on what they can do to support them. If you'd like further help and advice, please visit https//www.internetmatters.org/issues/cyberbullying

Cyberbullying terms and definitions

Online bullying can take many shapes but not all forms are easy to understand. Explore the different types of cyberbullying and bullying behaviours below.

Baiting: to intentionally make a person angry by saying or doing things to annoy them
Catfishing: stealing someone’s profile or setting up fake profiles to lure people into starting online relationships
Cyberstalking: sending repeated and frequent messages that include real threats of physical harm
Dissing: sending or posting information that’s intended to damage someone’s reputation
Exclusion: deliberately excluding someone from online conversations, games and activities
Flaming: sending angry and abusive online messages to intentionally provoke someone into starting an argument
Fraping: logging into someone else’s account, impersonating them or posting inappropriate content in their name
Griefing: abusing and angering people through online gaming
Harassment: targeting an individual or group with persistent and offensive messages which could develop into cyberstalking
Outing: publicly sharing personal, private or embarrassing information, photos or videos about someone online
Roasting: ganging up on an individual online and sending offensive abuse until the victim is seen to ‘crack’. sometimes a child will request to be roasted as a form of self-harm” and link to the self-harm hub
Trolling: deliberately posting provocative and insulting messages about sensitive subjects or inflicting racism or misogyny on an individual