Could your Child be a Cyber Bully?

Tying in with our last blog post about protecting your children online from cyber bullies and the ill intentioned (Bitdefender 2013 - Enhanced Parental Control: Keep Your Children Safe), Bitdefender have released the results of a survey of 2300 parents*.

Conducted by the award-winning provider of innovative antivirus solutions, the findings are alarming; if you are prone to verbally violent behaviour, your child could potentially become a cyber bully. The label is not something to be taken lightly – the effects of cyber bullying (usually including being threatened, being insulted, continuous mocking, spreading rumours and sharing photographs without permission) can be devastating and long lasting.   

The research showed a direct correlation between parental behavior at home and children’s habits on the Internet when it comes to aggresivity. Calm and conciliatory parental behavior will foster the same type of behaviour in the child, while aggressive language and behaviour leads to unwanted habits on the internet.

Bitdefender researcher Doctor Sabina Datcu has noted that “cyber bullying remains a vivid threat harming children through multiple environments such as e-mail, cell phone, social media, instant messaging, websites, or blogs. Whether they are victims or harassers, young people are very affected by cyber bullying, and some need specialised help to get over its psychological consequences.”

                       

Cyber bullying is serious; in 2012, Barack Obama issued a presidential proclamation declaring October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month in America. This is the ninth time that the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Department of Homeland Security have teamed up to educate Americans about cyber bullying dangers and staying safe online.

*The Bitdefender study was conducted between July and September with respondents from the US, the UK, Germany, Romania, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Netherlands, France, and Austria. The research is based on two surveys: one with 1800 randomly selected parents (with children aged between 7 and 18), and another one with 500 parents observed for one day through non-invasive methods in their usual environment.