FYI: Cyber Bullying

Check out the following article from Medical News Today:

In Cyber Bullying, Depression Hits Victims Hardest

Notes of interest for me were:
1. Kids are afraid to tell their parents about cyber bullying because they don’t want to be perceived as a tattle tale and they don’t want their computer or cell phone privileges to be taken away.
2. Many kids haven’t been educated about cyber bullying as a term in of itself.

Although I recommend that parents be monitoring electronical devices, I do not recommend taking away all privileges or having rigid boundaries around things such as computer and/or cell-phone usage. These are privileges (and can be taken away for short-term punishment), but they are also very much a part of this generation’s lifestyle, education and future career choices. Our children need to be prepared to know how to handle themselves within the internet/technological structure our world finds itself in.