What To Do When Your Child is Cyberbullied: Top Ten Tips for Parents post thumbnail

What To Do When Your Child is Cyberbullied: Top Ten Tips for Parents

(For a formatted .pdf version of this article for distribution, click on the image above [or click here]). Spanish Translation Available Here Discovering that your child is being cyberbullied is painful and challenging. Here’s what to do: 1. MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD IS (AND FEELS) SAFE. Their safety and well-being should always be your foremost […]

Teen Sexting: A Brief Guide for Educators and Parents post thumbnail

Teen Sexting: A Brief Guide for Educators and Parents

This research summary reviews what is currently known about teen sexting. Research from across the United States is discussed, along with practical solutions for parents, educators, and other adults to prevent and respond to teen sexting. Citation information: Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2022). Sexting – A Brief Guide for Educators and Parents. Cyberbullying […]

Trauma, Bullying, and Cyberbullying post thumbnail

Trauma, Bullying, and Cyberbullying

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the felt experiences of youth who have to deal with bullying at school or online, and how it may have a traumatic effect on some of them. One might argue that most bullying incidents don’t induce trauma, and that may be true if we view all forms and […]

Cyberbullying and helping youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) post thumbnail

Cyberbullying and helping youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

I’ve recently discussed the susceptibility of youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to be cyberbullied, outlining a number of reasons that contribute to such victimization.  When it comes to suggestions as to how we can help these kids, a few things stand out in my mind. First, it is really important to try to understand […]

Social Media Companies, Reporting, and Secondary Victimization post thumbnail

Social Media Companies, Reporting, and Secondary Victimization

One of the complaints I’ve heard most often from educators, parents, and youth when discussing cyberbullying is that social media companies are slow, inept, or unwilling to respond to the formal “reports” they send in through the site or app. This is not only infuriating, but also depressing because it contributes to a feeling of […]

League of Legends and Cyberbullying post thumbnail

League of Legends and Cyberbullying

League of Legends (or League for short) is the most popular multiplayer online game in the world, and takes place in a 3-D battle arena setting involving role-playing and real-time strategy elements into its live environment. Players in League (also known as “summoners”) are matched up with others depending on their skill and game level […]

Helping Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder when Bullied or Cyberbullied post thumbnail

Helping Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder when Bullied or Cyberbullied

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social communication and often is marked by restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, and focus and sensory issues. ASD is diagnosed along a continuum from Level 1 (which can be equated to traditional conceptions of Asperger’s Syndrome – a term largely outdated), to Level 2 (where the […]

Revenge Porn Research, Laws, and Help for Victims post thumbnail

Revenge Porn Research, Laws, and Help for Victims

With presidential candidate Hillary Clinton recently pledging at a town hall meeting that she would do whatever she could to end revenge porn (and cyberbullying [call us, Hillary, we can help! Donald, you too!]), I thought it was time to take a closer look at the phenomenon. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about […]

Teaching Snapchat Safety to Teens post thumbnail

Teaching Snapchat Safety to Teens

In my last blog entry, I sought to help readers unfamiliar with Snapchat with a primer on its background, use, and notable features. While emphasizing that the vast majority of youth use the app in positive ways (based on our extensive anecdotal observations), there are some negatives that may arise on rare occasions. It is […]