Stopping Cyber Bullying – Teach Kids Peace
Social media has become increasingly popular with many young people today. It is possible to connect with friends and family through sites like Facebook. However, these sites have being misused by malicious people or kids who result to harassing others. Parents, kids, social networking sites and social dating sites have to be proactive and be aware that cyber bullying is a major problem. Various things should be put into consideration to prevent cyber bullying within the social media. The major issue is educating ourselves and understanding social networking as well as cyber bullying.
Parents should be able to learn and get acquainted with social media as well as dating sites. Knowledge on how these sites work and how kids interact with them is very important. In most cases, sites like Facebook have an age limit that kids below a certain age cannot join. If this is the case, the parent should be able to implement this rule in the home. Dating sites are mainly for the older people and therefore, parents should ensure their kids do not join these sites. These dating websites are also used by kids to harass others about their appearance and profile information. If the child does not join these sites then it is easier to bring down the bullying. A good dating site that I can recommend to university students is match4me as it has a strict member policy where bullying is not allowed. Also with online dating sites in Belgium, it is very important to respect each other as much as we can. Parents and teachers should encourage kids to make peace with one another and avoid hurting other people. If one is a parent, ensure that you are in peace with your neighbors and the kid’s friends. Monitor what kids do online just as you monitor what they do offline. It is very necessary to have your children’s password from social media sites. For university students, I would focus on joining paid online dating sites such as Match4Me to be sure there are only relationship minded people on that site. With free dating sites there can be a chance that you are singled out to bully as now everybody knows you are single and looking for love.The kids should be allowed to have an online account if they give the parent the password so that the parents monitor what the kids do online. It is important for parents to stay involved with their children and develop close relationships. In this way, children will be more open to them and approach them when they have problems in school or in social media.

For parents whose children are in dating sites must ensure that they teach kids computer etiquette and caution them against posting images or information that they would not want everyone to see. Parents should encourage their children to spend more time with their friends or family offline more than spending hours on the computer. Online dating sites such as Match 4 Me should only be allowed to be used when they go to college in order to find a equally high educated partner. Sites like Facebook should be used on a limited amount of time.