Is cyberbullying illegal & how parents can protect your child

Is cyberbullying illegal? It depends on the law of the country you come from. With the amount of access kids have to social apps and gaming sites, cyberbullying has become more prevalent.

But parents, educators, and institutions hold the power to reduce or minimize cyberbullying. With laws, policies and strict consequences to those who subject people to cyberbullying, this situation can be managed. In this piece we will go over cyberbullying, whether its illegal and how parents can protect their kids.

What is cyberbullying?

When people use digital networks to hurt someone else through harassment and embarrassment we call this cyberbullying or e-bullying.

Bullying occurs at any moment through digital platforms which makes it extremely difficult for victimized individuals to find relief. People who experience cyberbullying face different types of attacks, such as rumor distribution or dangerous internet conduct, which makes them suffer emotionally.

• Harassment: People send multiple offensive messages that can threaten another person.

• Impersonation: A person creates fake social media profiles to hurt the reputation and make someone believe false information.

• Exclusion: A person decides to exclude someone from all online group communications.

• Trolling: They choose hurtful language just to get a reaction from others.

• Cyberstalking: This is when someone is being unlawfully monitored online.

How common is cyberbullying among teens?

Digital technology makes cyberbullying more common and harder to avoid among teenage users.

Studies released in 2023 show that 59% of US teens deal with online bullying. Yet the Cyberbullying Research Center shows that more than 30% of teens endure regular online harassment.

Victims of cyber bullying develop depression and anxiety twice more than others plus deal with self-confidence issues and think about suicide. Because bullying follows students outside school grounds parents and teachers need to intervene and manage this situation.

Is cyberbullying illegal?

States and laws determine if cyberbullying becomes illegal based on the activities that occur. The legal approach to e-bullying depends on whether the acts match known offenses against criminal and civil law as well as school rules.

Effective state cyberbullying rules exist in different parts of the United States with heavy penalties like misdemeanors and felonies for serious cases. Threatening people online multiple times or exposing their personal information through doxxing will get you into legal trouble.

What are the consequences of cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying produces major problems for victims and bullies who take part in it. Violation of local laws leads to possible financial punishment or criminal prosecution depending on the offense severity.

• Fines and penalties: When someone receives online harassment or defamatory messages they have to pay financial penalties in certain areas.

• Criminal charges: People who make extreme threats and stalk others through the internet can receive misdemeanor or felony convictions.

• Imprisonment: People who engage in cyberstalking and distribute revenge porn through the internet may face imprisonment under applicable laws.

• Juvenile records: Teens who bully online can receive legal punishment which puts their criminal status at risk when they become adults.

• Civil lawsuits: When victims or family members take legal action, they seek compensation for pain caused by bullying as well as claim harm to their reputation.

What are the effects of cyberbullying for teens?

Online harassment against teens creates major and lasting damage to their mind, self-image, and quality of life. Students cannot hide from e-bullying since it stays with them through all their activities.

The emotional pain of online attacks messes up teenage life at school as well as in their studies and physical health. The results of cyberbullying have an impact on people even when they grow up and influence how they feel about themselves and their associations.

• Anxiety and depression

Teens who face cyberbullying endure prolonged emotional suffering, together with daily stress. Continuous online victimization produces anxiety and depression that makes the victims feel they have no escape route from their emotional suffering.

The cyberbullying experience makes it hard for victims to sleep normally and leads to changes in their emotional state and their capacity to focus which affects their overall lifestyle.

• Low self-esteem and social isolation

When teens receive such negative treatment online they experience a major loss of self-assurance and self-respect.

People who receive online humiliation avoid participating socially and stop connecting with others to prevent new experiences of public rejection. Being alone for prolonged periods makes victims’ emotionally insufficient and they resort to drugs or other bad activities just to cope.

• Academic struggles and risky behavior

The stress from cyberbullying creates performance problems at school and can lead teens to make incorrect decisions. The pressure from online harassment makes it hard for victims to concentrate at school and do their schoolwork effectively.

Teens skip school more often when they face bullying in school which results in poor academic reports and poor attendance.

How can society jointly prevent cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is a real and illegal issue that society should pay much attention to in order to protect kids. The pressure that comes from online harassment is not only dangerous for mental health but also detrimental to physical well-being. That’s why society needs to step in to ensure there is an end to cyberbullying.

1. Educating and empowering young people

Society has a duty to teach young people how to be responsible while on the internet. Kids should be equipped with how they can manage cyberbullying before it gets out of hand.

Parents should also have open communications with their kids about participating in cyberbullying and how much it can be detrimental to someone. Schools should also come up with anti cyberbullying programs to raise awareness about this problem.

2. Creating safer online spaces

Tech companies also have a duty to provide safer digital platforms. This can be done by improving content moderation and reporting tools.

All platforms, including gaming and social media platforms, should implement strict rules to protect their members against stalking and cyberbullying.

3. Strengthening laws and policies

There should be strict policies and laws to protect people against cyberbullying. All cyberbullying policies should be accompanied by strict legal consequences. Workplaces and schools should also have anti-cyberbullying policies that protect not only workers but also students.  

How to deal with cyberbullying as a parent?

There are many ways parents can manage illegal cyberbullying and protect their kids. How you deal with cyberbullying depends on your parenting method and how you manage your kids. Whether your child is a victim or the perpetrator, this is how you can manage cyberbullying.

What to do if your child is a victim？

If you have a kid that is directly experiencing cyberbullying, the best place to start is by offering emotional support. Ensure they know that they’re not alone and that you will tackle the problem together.

The next step will be to document all forms of cyberbullying your kid has experienced and then block the offender. You can also help your kid develop coping mechanisms so that if it happens again they know how to manage the situation.

What to do if your child is the perpetrator?

For kids that are perpetrators of cyberbullying, understanding why they do it will be more helpful than blindly punishing them.

Sit down with them and ask them why they do it, and then come up with mechanisms to ensure they don’t subject others to cyberbullying. Encourage them to apologize to those they have subjected to cyberbullying.  

How can you report cyberbullying?

Most social media sites have reporting channels that you can use in the event your kids face cyberbullying. You can also report to schools if cyberbullying occurs in school or in any other organization.  But if it’s a severe case of cyberbullying, you can always report it to the law enforcement.  

How can parents protect children from cyberbullying?

Protecting your kids against cyberbullying comes at a cost and parents should take responsibility in cautioning and protecting their kids against cyberbullying. While talking to your kids about the dangers of cyberbullying might work, you all need tools to help you identify these incidents.

One of the most proactive methods you can use to protect your kids is parental control apps. Parental control apps come with various features that enable you to monitor your kid’s activities online. From screen time regulation to app blocking and screen mirroring, there is so much that you can do to keep your child from danger online with these apps.

One such parental control app that you can use is the FlashGet Kids. This app has incredible features to help you manage your kids against cyberbullying, including:

• Screen mirroring: This feature helps you see what your kid is doing on their device in real-time in stealth mode. You can spot if they are getting bullied online and keeping quiet about it.

• Screen time: This feature lets you set up a time limit for an app and block the app when the limit is reached. You can also allocate and limit screen time for the phone so it locks itself based on your digital policies.

• Keyword detection: This feature can help you mark certain words to know if your kid is being subjected to cyberbullying or if they’re subjecting others to the same act. You’ll get notifications on your phone any time a specific word that you had set gets mentioned on your kid’s social media timeline.

Conclusion

Whether or not cyberbullying is illegal depends on where you come from. As a parent, you have to understand why your kids are being subjected to cyberbullying or why they are subjecting others to the same act.

While cyberbullying has damaging emotional consequences, it also has strict legal implications based on the policies and laws of where you come from.

Parents can use apps like FlashGet Kids and use their screen mirroring feature to see who their kids interact with in social apps. Parents can also use the screen time feature to manage the amount of time kids spend on their devices.

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