Lambton Primary School

Transcription

1 Lambton Primary School Advice to pupils on Cyber Bullying

2 For pupils If you re being bullied by phone or the internet Remember, bullying is never your fault. It can be stopped, and it can usually be traced. Don t ignore the bullying. Tell someone you trust, such as a teacher or parent, or call an advice line. Try to keep calm. If you are frightened, try to show it as little as possible. Don t get angry: it will only make the person bullying you more likely to continue. Don t give out your personal details online - if you're in a chat room, watch what you say about where you live, the school you go to, your address etc. All these things can help someone who wants to harm you build up a picture about you. Keep and save any bullying s, text messages or images. Then you can show them to a parent or teacher as evidence. If you can, make a note of the time and date bullying messages and images were sent, and note any details about the sender. There s plenty of advice on how to react to cyber Bullying, for example

3 Text/Video messaging You can easily stop receiving text messages for a while by turning off incoming messages for a couple of days. This might stop the person texting you by making them believe you ve changed your number. If the bullying persists, you can change your phone number. Ask your mobile service provider e.g. Orange or talk to someone you trust to help. Don t reply to abusive or worrying text or video messages. Your mobile service provider will have a number for you to ring or text to report phone bullying Visit their website for details Don t delete messages from cyber bullies. You don t have to read them, but you should keep them as evidence. Text harassment is a crime. If the calls are simply annoying, tell a teacher, parent or carer. If they are threatening or malicious, and they continue, report them to the police, taking with you all the messages you ve received.

4 Phone calls If you get an abusive or silent phone call, don t hang up immediately. Instead, put the phone down and walk away for a few minutes. Then hang up or turn your phone off. Once they realise they can t get you rattled, callers usually get bored and stop bothering you. Action to take 1. Always tell someone else: a teacher, parent or carer. Get them to support you and monitor what s going on. 2. Don t give out personal details, such as your phone number, to just anyone. Never leave your phone lying around. When you answer your phone, just say hello, not your name. If they ask you to confirm your phone number, ask what number they want and then tell them if they've got the right number or not. You can use your voic to vet your calls. Mobiles usually display the caller s number. See if you recognise it. If you don t, let it divert to voic instead of answering it.

5 3. Don t leave your name on your voic greeting. You could get an adult to record your greeting. Their voice might stop the caller ringing again. Almost all calls can be traced. If the problem continues, think about changing your phone number. If you receive calls that scare or trouble you, make a note of the times and dates and report them to the police. If your mobile can record calls, take a recording too. s Never reply to unpleasant or unwanted s - the sender wants a response, so don t give them the satisfaction. Keep s as evidence, and tell an adult about them as soon as possible. Ask an adult to contact the sender s Internet Service Provider (ISP) by writing abuse@ and then the host, e.g. abuse@hotmail.com Never reply to someone you don t know, even if there s an option to unsubscribe. Replying simply confirms your address as a real one.

6 Social networking Keep it private Your pages may be searched or accessed by people that you don t know, so it s best to keep your profile page private. Report negative behaviour You can block troublesome people from leaving messages on your profile, and report any bullies to the website administrators. Bullies can be tracked down and dealt with, or have their account deleted (this may not solve the root cause of the problem, but it will make the bully lose all the profile data they have built up). As a first port of call, tell your parents or alert the social network's administrators to the problem - you'll usually find links to 'report this' or 'report abuse'. Use the child safety 'panic button' The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) has directly teamed up with several social networking websites, including Facebook and Bebo, to provide the ClickCeop icon. This is a so-called 'panic button' that children can use to report problems or instances of abuse, which will be followed up by CEOP and the social network concerned. To report a problem on Bebo, use the ClickCEOP report button - found underneath the main photo on the violator's page. Facebook users can download the ClickCEOP app via the fan page, which will flag the button on your profile.

7 Think twice before you post information Remember that even though you may be hiding under a different name, your identity can still be tracked, so think carefully about whether something you post may offend others as it may come back to haunt you. Even if your profile is private, messages, videos and photos you post to other forums or on other people s profiles may be seen by people you don t know. Be honest These sites are designed for those aged 13 and above. If you re under 18, it s best to be honest about your age when signing up, otherwise older people may try to contact you. Never list your phone number It s not a good idea to list your mobile number on a social networking site (even if only your friends can access your profile). Get clued-up on safety Take a look at Facebook's and Bebo's own safety guidance and advice on how to report issues and set your security settings. has lots of advice on how to stay safe online.

8 Lambton Primary School Caradoc Close, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE38 0PL Telephone: (0191) Fax: (0191)